The dark web is a scary place.
I’ve not been there myself, but I’m sure you’ve heard all the horrific things that go on there. Thieves, murderers, and sociopaths visit sites on the dark web to indulge their sick, twisted desires.
But this, this is darker than all of that.
One Singaporean man visited the dark web so he could… buy Fave vouchers.
SAF Regular Buys Credit Card Details From Dark Web & Used Them to Buy Over $10K Worth of e-Vouchers
A SAF captain has been sentenced to 20 weeks’ jail after he bought multiple credit card details that belonged to others from someone he met on the Dark Web.
In case you don’t know, the Dark Web contains websites that are not indexed by search engines such as Google. It is often used by criminals because it is only accessible by special software whereby users and website operators can remain anonymous as well as untraceable.
Yang Jiafeng, who was from the SAF Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance Training Centre, said he first met someone only known as “Mr Tree” through an online forum on the Dark Web.
The two of them started communicating with each other via an e-mail service provider called Sharklaser.com, which automatically deletes e-mails after a few hours.
According to The Straits Times, Yang then bought from Mr Tree multiple credit card details belonging to others, and some of them involved Maybank.
He paid Mr Tree with bitcoins but court documents did not reveal the amount.
Used Details to Buy Vouchers
So, what elaborate plans did this SAF captain have after stealing all those credit card details?
Well, he bought some Fave vouchers.
As you know, Fave has a feature called “Fave Pay”, which is an accepted mode of payment for selected merchants.
So, Yang created three accounts and linked the credit card credentials he bought from Mr Tree to his three Fave accounts.
Between end-February and early April 2018, the SAF captain purchased 88 e-vouchers worth more than $10,000 in total.
He then refunded these vouchers to obtain online credits from Fave.
After which, he used the credits to buy items from merchants that supported the “Fave Pay” function.
Caught by Maybank
The police discovered his misdeed after a fraud analyst from Maybank Singapore alerted them to Yang’s crime.
Yang later made full restitution, the court heard.
Yang pleaded guilty to three counts of “causing a computer to access without authority the data in another computer.”
The offences fall under the Computer Misuse and Cybersecurity Act.
The SAF captain is now out on bail of $10,000 and will surrender himself at the State Courts on 24 Feb to begin serving his sentence.
He has allegedly since been suspended from the SAF.
For each charge under the Computer Misuse and Cybersecurity Act, first-time offenders can be jailed for up to two years and fined up to $5,000.
Repeat offenders can be jailed for up to three years and fined up to $10,000.
Here’s some advice: never go to the Dark Web, and never talk to someone who calls themselves “Mr Tree”.
