South Africans' vulnerability to cybercrime has been highlighted with the discovery that passports, identity documents, bank cards and e-mail information is on sale on “the dark web” for under R200 — among the cheapest in the world.
This is according to a study by cybersecurity company NordVPN, which analysed the dark web market valued at $17.3m (R270.4m). Among the items found were passports and personal IDs, payment card data, online accounts, bank account logins and crypto accounts, as well as other personal data from more than 50 countries.
A SA passport or ID card can be purchased for as little as R156, the fourth cheapest in the world.
Researchers also discovered SA payment card data sold on the market with an average price of R143.
SA personal e-mail data costs R156 per batch — also among the lowest in the world.
Crypto wallets and investment accounts cost more than bank accounts. With an average price of R6,158, the most expensive crypto account data is from Binance, followed by Kraken (R6,001) and Crypto.com (R5,470), according to the report.
Scammers are buying SA passports, bank cards & e-mails 'cheap, cheap'
Image: 123RF
This is according to a study by cybersecurity company NordVPN, which analysed the dark web market valued at $17.3m (R270.4m). Among the items found were passports and personal IDs, payment card data, online accounts, bank account logins and crypto accounts, as well as other personal data from more than 50 countries.
A SA passport or ID card can be purchased for as little as R156, the fourth cheapest in the world.
Researchers also discovered SA payment card data sold on the market with an average price of R143.
SA personal e-mail data costs R156 per batch — also among the lowest in the world.
Crypto wallets and investment accounts cost more than bank accounts. With an average price of R6,158, the most expensive crypto account data is from Binance, followed by Kraken (R6,001) and Crypto.com (R5,470), according to the report.
The researchers explained: “In some ways a dark web market is much like any other. Criminals who buy products on these criminal markets expect to make their money back and then some — the same way a tradesman might buy a tool at a hardware store.
“The only problem is they make their money by stealing it from innocent people.”
The most commonly found item in the overall dark web market was payment card data.
Copies of passports were the most expensive item at about $600 (about R9,189) on average. However, prices varied greatly between countries, with Argentinian passports being the cheapest at $9 (about R137.84) and Czech, Slovakian and Lithuanian passports tied for most expensive at $3,800 (about R58,202).
Batches of e-mail addresses bought in large quantities are used to launch broad scams and hacks. The EU had the most expensive personal and business addresses.
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