Sometimes it’s not easy being a cyber criminal. In addition to law enforcement and private security companies, cyber thieves have to battle fraudsters out to beat them at their own game, but a website offers to help.
Ripper.cc has been maintaining a database of known “rippers” or scammers since June last year and security firm Digital Shadows, which has been investigating it, says it may help online black markets flourish.
Fraud is a nagging problem in the cyber criminal world, according to Digital Shadows. Although some hackers believe in honor amongst thieves, others are peddling bogus goods, such as stolen credit card numbers or user credentials that turn out to be fake.
The cost of doing business in this risky climate means hackers are saddled with a “ripper tax,” Digital Shadows said in a Tuesday blog post. “This in turn, slows the market down and makes further cyberattacks less lucrative.”
However, Ripper.cc is building a database of known fraudsters. It already has close to 1,000 profiles, each of which can include the ripper’s screen names, the contact methods used, and details about the specific scams the offender was involved in.
