Joker’s Stash, The Largest Carding Marketplace, Announces Shutdown

Joker’s Stash, the largest dark web marketplace notorious for
selling compromised payment card data, has announced plans to shut
down its operations on February 15, 2021.

In a message board post on a Russian-language underground
cybercrime forum, the operator of the site — who goes by the name
“JokerStash” — said “it’s time for us to leave forever” and that
“we will never ever open again,” according to twin reports from
cybersecurity firms Gemini Advisory^[1]
and Intel471^[2].

“Joker goes on a well-deserved retirement. Joker’s Stash is
closing,” the post read. “When we opened years ago, nobody knew us.
Today we are one of the largest cards/dumps marketplace[s].”

The exact reason for the shut down is still unclear.

Joker’s Stash, since its origins in 2014, emerged as one of the
biggest players in the underground payment card economy over the
years, with over $1 billion generated in revenues.

The news of the imminent shutdown comes weeks after the US
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Interpol allegedly seized proxy servers^[3] used in connection with
Blockchain-based domains belonging to the site last month, briefly
disrupting its operations.

Adding to the mounting troubles was a “severe decline” in the
volume of stolen data posted on the site, leading to complaints
from clients about the poor quality of the payment card data.

Then in late October, the site’s routine activities also
suffered after the actor who allegedly runs the site claimed to
have contracted COVID-19 and had been spending more than one week
in a hospital.

Gemini Advisory pointed to Bitcoin’s recent spike as another
reason that may have led to the website’s demise.

Bitcoin hit a record high of $40,000 last week, lifting the
total value of the cryptocurrency market above $1 trillion for the
first time ever.

“JokerStash was an early advocate of Bitcoin and claims to keep
all proceeds in this cryptocurrency,” the researchers said. “This
actor was already likely to be among the wealthiest cybercriminals,
and the spike may have multiplied their fortune, earning them
enough money to retire.”

Joker’s Stash’s shut down isn’t the end of the road, however, as
vendors are expected to transition to other dark web marketplaces
to advertise their services.

The site’s administrator had a few parting words of advice for
cybercriminals.

“We are also want to wish all young and mature ones
cyber-gangsters not to lose themselves in the pursuit of easy money
(sic),” the post concluded. “Remember, that even all the money in
the world will never make you happy and that all the most truly
valuable things in this life are free.”