U.S. authorities arrested a 37-year-old Wisconsin resident on charges of attempting to arrange a murder-for-hire, according to a statement from the Justice Department.
The woman located a hitman on the dark web. She supplied the hitman with the target’s phone number and a description of the intended victim, as well as information about the victim’s car and place of work.
According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, reporters for one outlet learned of the planned crime while working on a story about darknet deals. They found evidence of a bitcoin transaction, as well as a wallet screenshot showing $5633 in cryptocurrency — which the woman allegedly sent to the site’s administrator.
Subsequently, reporters contacted law enforcement. Police found on the suspect’s computer screenshots of the site and messages demanding the target be killed, the outlet reports.
The Wisconsin resident faces up to 10 years in prison.
Earlier, a U.S. citizen attempted to hire a killer to kill her ex-husband for 12 BTC through a fraudulent site.
As of the end of 2020, darknet-market revenues in Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin and Tether exceeded $1.5 billion.
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