What happens when you spend a week fishing on the dark web?

It is, we’re told, a place where arms are traded, drugs are dealt and grotesque crimes are committed. But have you ever visited the dark web? Anthony Cuthbertson dives to the depths in search of 'mystery boxes', 'murder markets' and more

Wednesday 27 February 2019 18:13 GMT
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Illustrations by Dilruba Tayfun
Illustrations by Dilruba Tayfun

My first encounter with the dark web was an envelope. A friend handed it to me and told me to look inside, to “really look” inside, and see if I thought there was anything strange about the contents. The slim package contained a screen protector for a smartphone and a small cleaning cloth sealed in a plastic wrapper, together with an official-looking receipt. I unwrapped the plastic and turned each item over until I finally spotted a hidden fold behind the label on the wrapper. Inside, under several more layers of plastic, was a gram of cocaine.

It had come from a website on a part of the internet that can’t be reached by normal means. My friend, I’ll call him Colton, had paid for the drug using a semi-anonymous currency called bitcoin and received it through the post – much more cheaply and safely than if he had bought it from a dealer in person. It was 2012 and it felt like the future had arrived.

When I visited the dark web myself, I discovered that beyond the digital stalls of the drug markets was an entire town that lived without law. I never lingered long, as browsing felt like walking through a bad neighbourhood at night. Except instead of hooded figures in the shadows were hackers lurking behind links, waiting to steal my identity and syphon off my bitcoin .

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