TheHobbit offers drug dealers a safe haven in Middle Earth

Mar 19, 2015 08:44 GMT  ·  By

As the Evolution black market dissolved all of a sudden recently, its admins making millions of escrow dollars disappear overnight, the owners of alternative dark web drug bazaar Middle Earth scramble to assimilate its customers.

News of Evolution admins performing an exit scam came on Wednesday, when someone named NSWGreat, self-described as the public relations manager for the illegal marketplace, announced it on Reddit.

Evo's owners admitted to the scam

He or she said that suspicions emerged upon noticing that withdrawal of the money held in escrow until an illegal transaction completed no longer worked.

When confronting Evolution’s admins Verto and Kimble, NSWGreat received confirmation that the exit scam was in development.

According to some users on Reddit, it appears that the duo pulling the stunt on the drug buyers and sellers made off with more than $12 / €11 million in bitcoins.

The nefarious business had been set up since January 2014 and soon became the replacement of Silk Road, last shut down by law enforcement in November 2014 during Operation Onymous.

Nefarious businesses can be conducted on other markets

Following this announcement, handlers of the competitive dark market Middle Earth trumpeted that they are offering free accounts to Evolution refugees, touting its resistance against Operation Onymous and a stable environment for exchanging illicit goods.

The original announcement has been removed by Reddit, but the comments and responses from a representative of the dark marketplace are still available.

An admin of Middle Earth going by the name of Gandalf said that the purpose of the offer was “to help any scammed Evolution refugees get back on their feet again.” Hopefully, the proposal won’t enjoy wide acceptance from the swindled Evolution clients.

Gandalf did a lot of promoting for Middle Earth on Reddit, responding to questions from different users and giving assurance that the marketplace has been built to last.

According to the admin, the marketplace’s owner, named TheHobbit, had also been the victim of exit several scams in the past and founded the illegal bazaar with the specific purpose of protecting its members.

That is probably until funds in escrow accounts become enough of a temptation; TheHobbit has the ring to become invisible, after all, and evade law enforcement's (Sauron???) grasp.

Although the principle of keeping members of a community safe from scams is a noble one, in this case the activity conducted is completely illegal as it facilitates exchange of contraband products, from drugs and weapons to stolen identities and hacking tools.

Evolution’s cease of activity helps law enforcement in its fight against criminal online activity but there are plenty of other places on the web, especially on its dark side, where illegal transactions can occur.