The Bull and Millionaire Mike: A Look at Darknet and Securities Fraud

Criminals have long leveraged information and communications technology to commit crimes that pose significant threats to public safety, economic security, and national security. Illegal goods and services are marketed on websites accessible through traditional search engines (i.e., clearnet) and non-indexed websites that cannot be identified and accessed through traditional clearnet search engines such as Google or Bing (i.e., Deep Web). The Deep Web, which includes Intranets, websites that are password-protected, and websites accessible only using specialized browsers (e.g., Tor, “The Onion Router”), are part of what is known as the Dark Web. Within the Dark Web, the term darknet has been used to describe spaces used to facilitate criminal activities, such as the trade of illicit goods and services.