Man arrested after hired a hitman on the dark web

A joint operation of Europol and the Italian Postal and Communication Police resulted in the arrest of an Italian national who hired a hitman on the dark web.

Europol and the Italian Postal and Communication Police (Polizia Postale e delle Comunicazioni) arrested an Italian national as part of the “Operation Hitman” because he is suspected of hiring a hitman on the dark web.

The man was looking for an Italian killer to ” break his ex’s back in such a way as to make her become paralyzed and forced to move in a wheelchair ‘ and ”pour acid on her face.”

According to the Italian media, the man hired the hitman through an internet assassination service on the TOR network, was agreed to pay about €10 000 worth in Bitcoins.

“The hitman, hired through an internet assassination website hosted on the TOR network, was payed about €10 000 worth in Bitcoins to kill the ex-girlfriend of the suspect.” reads the press release published by the Europol.

“Europol carried out an urgent, complex crypto-analysis to enable the tracing and identification of the provider from which the suspect purchased the cryptocurrencies.”

Europol conducted the analysis of the transactions related to the payment in cryptocurrency and was able to determine the Italian crypto service provider from which the suspect purchased the cryptocurrencies. The Italian crypto service provider provided information to the Polizia Postale to identify the Italian suspect.

“The timely investigation prevented any harm to be perpetrated against the potential victim.” concludes the press release “Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) and the Joint Cybercrime Action Taskforce (J-CAT) hosted at Europol supported this investigation with operational analysis and expertise.”

I made an interview with the Italian broadcaster RAI News on the case, you can find it here:

https://www.rainews.it/dl/rainews/articoli/operazione-hitman-sicario-sul-dark-web-evento-frequente-parla-pierluigi-paganini-912b097d-e12a-4e97-9ddc-0103fe0f97f2.html?refresh_ce (Italian Language)

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Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, Operation hitman)

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