What’s being done about ‘murder-for-hire’ sites on the dark web, and how dangerous are they?
At some point in our lives most of us have done something to upset someone.
That person might have responded by politely asking you not to do it again, or they may have decided life is too short and simply let it go.
If you’re lucky they won’t have responded by paying a hitman thousands of pounds to have you killed.
Alexis was 19 when she received a call from the police in her hometown in the United States in 2018.
The officer told her to come to the station immediately for a conversation that would change her life forever.
“They asked if I had p****d anyone off and I said ‘no, I don’t think so’… then they said someone had paid a couple of grand to put a hit out on me.”
Alexis, whose surname we are not reporting to protect her identity, was understandably left wondering why somebody would want to have her killed, and on top of that – who did she know that had access to a hitman?
However, it turns out whoever it was didn’t need to go to the effort of making contacts in the mafia or violent street gangs.
Trying to find a hitman was apparently much easier than that.
This person had simply fired up their laptop and accessed a dangerous online space where criminals can remain anonymous as they operate outside of the law.
It is known as the “dark web”.
The hidden underbelly of the internet allows people to buy and sell drugs and weapons, watch illegal pornography, and even hire hackers to target individuals or businesses.
There is also a disturbing amount of apparent “murder-for-hire” sites offering hitman services in exchange for cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin.
One site claims to have ‘thousands of satisfied customers’
An anonymous dark web user had logged on to a site called Camorra Hitman and made a Bitcoin transaction worth $5,770 (around £4,800) to have Alexis kidnapped and murdered.
Camorra Hitman is no longer running but dozen of sites claiming to offer the same services are still operating on the dark web.
‘Contract murder from $15,000’
Sky News contacted several of these websites to see if they would put someone forward for interview to discuss their operations.
None of the websites responded.
The order form from one of the sites – which asks customers for the name and address of the ‘target’
A couple of the sites feature images of people who appear to have been killed in knife attacks or road accidents. It’s not clear if the photographs are real or genuinely linked to the services the websites claim to offer.
One site, which we have chosen not to name, claims to offer “contract murder” from $15,000 (£12,600) and “beatings” from $2,000 (£1,600).
Dark web users provide personal details of people they want killed
Chris Monteiro is a UK-based hacker and dark web vigilante who gains access to transactions between buyers and sellers on these sites.
He then passes the information on to law enforcement agencies in the UK and abroad.
In fact, it was Mr Monteiro who tipped off police in the United States about the hit on Alexis.
“Over several years I have encountered thousands of legitimate murder plots,” he said.
“People are going to these sites and providing details of the person they want killed, such as where they work, where they live and how much they’re willing to pay.”
Chris Monteiro, pictured, says he has uncovered thousands of legitimate murder plots on the dark web
‘I had a knife on me’
However, over the years Mr Monteiro discovered the websites he had been hacking into were not what they seemed to be.
The ones he had accessed were not real – and all investigations into “murder-for-hire” websites in these spaces have found them to be fake.
And thankfully for Alexis, this includes the one used by her would-be perpetrator.
But whether the site was real or not, there was still someone out there who had used it with the intention of ending her life.
“I was a little scared at first… I had pepper spray on me. I had a knife on me. I had a plank of wood in my car in case someone attacked me. So life was very different.”
Read more about the dark web:
Global dark web drug network properties raided in North East and Surrey
Dark web crackdown on opioid traffickers triggers 179 arrests across the world
One of the sites claims to offer ‘services for hiring killers around the world’
Law enforcement officials ‘not doing enough’
The police passed the investigation on to the FBI who closed her case in 2019 and told her the “United States Attorney’s Office has declined to prosecute”.
Whoever did try and have Alexis killed is still living freely today.
Both Alexis and Mr Monteiro accuse law enforcement of doing little to resolve the problem around these sites.
When asked what they are doing to tackle the issue, the UK’s National Crime Agency told the Sky News Daily podcast in a statement: “The NCA and its partners around the world work closely to remove criminal sites, and frequently identify and bring to account individuals committing serious and organised crime on the dark web – ranging from sharing indecent images of children to supplying class A drugs.”
Regardless of the legitimacy of the “murder-for-hire” websites, it doesn’t mean dangerous people aren’t paying money to them with the intention of having people killed.
When it comes to her own murder-for-hire story, Alexis says she is now getting on with her life.
“I’m trying to really grow as a person… at this point, it’s better to just move on, not to dwell on it and drag myself down.”
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World
Putin wasn’t at the White House, but his influence was – the moments which reveal his hold over Trump
Vladimir Putin wasn’t at the White House but his influence clearly was. At times, it dominated the room.
There were three key moments that revealed the Russian president‘s current hold over Donald Trump.
The first was in the Oval Office. Sitting alongside Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the US president told reporters: “I don’t think you need a ceasefire.”
Ukraine talks latest: Zelenskyy ‘ready to meet’ Putin after Trump summit
Vladimir Putin shaking hands with Donald Trump when they met last week. Pic: Reuters
It was a stunning illustration of Mr Trump’s about-face in his approach to peace. For the past six months, a ceasefire has been his priority, but after meeting Mr Putin in Alaska, suddenly it’s not.
Confirmation that he now views the war through Moscow’s eyes.
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Trump applauds Putin and shares ride in ‘The Beast’ last week
The second was the format itself, with Mr Trump reverting to his favoured ask-what-you-like open-ended Q&A.
In Alaska, Mr Putin wasn’t made to take any questions – most likely, because he didn’t want to. But here, Mr Zelenskyy didn’t have a choice. He was subjected to a barrage of them to see if he’d learnt his lesson from last time.
It was a further demonstration of the special status Mr Trump seems to afford to Mr Putin.
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The third was their phone call. Initially, President Trump said he’d speak to the Kremlin leader after his meeting with European leaders. But it turned out to be during it.
A face-to-face meeting with seven leaders was interrupted for a phone call with one – as if Mr Trump had to check first with Mr Putin, before continuing his discussions.
We still don’t know the full details of the peace proposal that’s being drawn up, but all this strongly suggests that it’s one sketched out by Russia. The White House is providing the paper, but the Kremlin is holding the pen.
Read more:
Four key takeaways from the White House Ukraine summit
Trump has taken peace talks a distance not seen since the war began
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Trump, Zelenskyy and the suit: What happened?
For Moscow, the aim now is to keep Mr Trump on their path to peace, which is settlement first, ceasefire later.
It believes that’s the best way of securing its goals, because it has more leverage so long as the fighting continues.
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But Mr Putin will be wary that Mr Trump is pliable and can easily change his mind, depending on the last person he spoke to.
So to ensure that his sympathies aren’t swayed, and its red lines remain intact, Russia will be straining to keep its voice heard.
On Monday, for example, the Russian foreign ministry was quick to condemn recent comments from the UK government that it would be ready to send troops to help enforce any ceasefire.
It described the idea as “provocative” and “predatory”.
Moscow is trying to drown out European concerns by portraying itself as the party that wants peace the most, and Kyiv (and Europe) as the obstacle.
But while Mr Zelenskyy has agreed to a trilateral meeting, the Kremlin has not. After the phone call between Mr Putin and Mr Trump, it said the leaders discussed “raising the level of representatives” in the talks between Russia and Ukraine. No confirmation to what level.
World
Trump is playing both sides – but has taken peace talks a distance not seen since the war began
Talks between Donald Trump, Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders have taken place at the White House, aimed at finding an end to the war in Ukraine.
On the agenda were US security guarantees, whether a ceasefire is required, and a potential summit between the Ukrainian president and Vladimir Putin.
Zelenskyy ready to meet Putin – follow latest
Here’s what three of our correspondents made of it all.
For Trump
For Mr Trump, the challenge to remain seen as the deal-broker is to maintain “forward momentum, through devilish detail,” Sky News’ US correspondent James Matthews says.
The US president called the Washington summit a “very good early step”, but that’s all it was, Matthews says.
Despite cordiality with Mr Zelenskyy and promising talk of a US role in security guarantees for Ukraine and discussions for meetings to come. Matthews says the obstacles remain.
“Trump has taken peace discussions to a distance not travelled since the start of the war, but it is a road navigated by a president playing both sides who have changed his mind on key priorities.”
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Zelenskyy, Trump and the suit
For Putin
As for Russia, Sky News’ Moscow correspondent Ivor Bennett says the aim is to keep Trump on its preferred path towards peace – a deal first, a ceasefire later.
“Moscow believes that’s the best way of securing all of its goals,” Bennett says.
But Ukraine and Europe want things the other way round, and Moscow “will be wary that Trump can be easily persuaded by the last person he spoke to”.
And so, Russia will be “trying to keep themselves heard” and “cast Kyiv as the problem, as they won’t agree to a peace deal on the Kremlin’s terms”.
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What’s Putin’s next move? Sky’s Ivor Bennett explains
For the UK and Europe
Sky News’ deputy political editor Sam Coates says, for Sir Keir Starmer and Europe, the biggest success of the Washington summit was the US promise of security guarantees for Ukraine.
He adds that the “hard work starts now to actually try to figure out what these guarantees amount to”.
Sir Keir said if Vladimir Putin breaches a future peace deal, there would have to be consequences, but Coates said potentially “insoluble” issues stand in the way.
“At what point do those breaches invoke a military response, whether US guarantees would be enough to encourage European involvement in Ukraine, and whether or not you could see the UK and Europe going to war with Russia to protect Ukraine?”
Coates says “there may never be an answer that satisfies everyone involved”.
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