Behind the Casefiles: Amy Allwine

Posted: September 19, 2018 in Contract killing, Dark Web, Darknet, Hitmen, Uncategorized
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I have been writing episodes of the excellent true-crime podcast Casefile and as I’ve been rather slack in updating this blog lately, I thought I would write up a little about each case I contribute to the show. These posts will explain how and why I choose each case and the research that goes into writing the stories.

The first one I wrote was Case 86 – the murder of Amy Allwine

Best to listen to it before reading on, as there will be spoilers below and it may not make much sense if you don’t know the story.

I first heard of Amy Allwine before she was murdered. Her name came up as one of the targets in the original hack of the Besa Mafia dark web murder-for-hire site. I wrote briefly about the hit ordered on Amy in my first blog about Besa Mafia on 14 May 2016:

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Dark web drugs markets – more TripAdvisor than Amazon

Posted: September 17, 2018 in Dark Web, Darknet, Drugs, Silk Road, Uncategorized
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They used to be known as the “Amazon” or “eBay” of drugs, but modern dark web drug sales use a system more comparable to Yelp or TripAdvisor

 

Ever since Silk Road, the first mass-market point-and-click dark web drugs bazaar, made its debut in January 2011, the DNMs (darknet markets) have been invariably compared to popular e-commerce platforms. Reports would either refer to “the Amazon of drugs” or “the eBay of drugs” and point the parallels with those websites. Like Amazon, they were a one-stop shop for every drug imaginable, that could be popped into a basket and sent to the buyer with a range of shipping options. Like eBay, the sites brought buyers and sellers together and held payment in escrow until both sides were satisfied. Buyers would leave star ratings and feedback for the sellers, who would go out of their way to ensure their product and customer service would gain them a 5-star review.

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That time I visited Roger Clark, aka Mongoose, aka Variety Jones

Posted: June 16, 2018 in Dark Web, Darknet, Drugs, Silk Road
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The man alleged to be Silk Road’s Variety Jones, Roger Thomas Clark, has finally been extradited from Thailand, where he has spent 2 1/2 years in Bangkok Remand, to face trial in the USA.

The pic the prison guard took with my phone

Variety Jones was basically unheard of until the trial of Ross Ulbricht, where he was revealed as a sort of behind-the-scenes puppet master, a Svengali-type figure who, according to the chat logs found on Ulbricht’s computer, was the first to suggest murder as a solution to a problem staff member.

I visited Clark (aka Plural of Mongoose) in Klong Phem Prison several times when researching The Darkest Web. Here’s a taster of what happened:

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How Telstra stole my identity

Posted: May 3, 2018 in Dark Web, Darknet
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You can’t have a burner phone without a prepaid SIM, so I guess it’s only fitting that Telstra is using my Fake ID to illustrate their identity requirements

There is a long history of people having their photos nicked without attribution and payment by large corporations. It is the reason the very excellent ‘for exposure’ exists. I’ve never actually had a photo deemed steal-worthy til now, as alerted to me by an AllThingsVice reader.

Terry Davis was recently filling out an application for a prepaid Sim card “for a friend” when he thought something looked oddly familiar.

 

He clicked on the photo of the sample licence to enlarge it and sure enough, there it was:

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The Darkest Web

Posted: February 15, 2018 in Uncategorized
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Apologies for the lack of posts for a very long time. I’ve been busy finishing my latest book, and it went on sale on 14 March! So excuse the shameless plug, but you can order:

Physical copy with FREE worldwide shipping here

On Amazon Kindle here

You may have noticed I’ve password protected a couple of posts for spoiler reasons, but you can Read about the world trip to meet the characters here

Cover

Darkest Web

Drugs, death and destroyed lives … the inside story of the internet’s evil twin

Hitmen for hire, drugs for sale. Inside the dangerous world that lurks beneath the bright, friendly light of your internet screen

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Murder, they wrote – freelancing for a dark web hitman

Posted: October 13, 2017 in Dark Web, Darknet, Hitmen
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Dark web murder-for-hire organisation Besa Mafia never paid any of their would-be hitmen for burning cars for them. The only people paid were their army of freelance writers. Here’s what Besa Mafia had them do.

Shilling for the Hitmen

Any freelancer knows that sometimes you have to take some pretty questionable jobs to put dinner on the table. This whole writing gig is not at all lucrative for those of us who are not J.K. Rowling or Stephen King, and in between books and serious investigative journalism (both which pay dismally when converted to hourly rates), we have to take some less-than-rewarding jobs. My low points have included extolling the virtues of pokies (slot machines for US readers) and offering my body up for clinical tests of a new drug (not the fun kind).

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Real Folk of the Dark Web

Posted: September 12, 2017 in Dark Web, Hitmen, Silk Road, Uncategorized
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A couple of weeks ago I got back from an 8-week trip around the globe to meet with all manner of dark web types in preparation for my upcoming book, Darkest Web. Here’s a taster of what went down with each.

Screen Shot 2017-09-12 at 11.31.26 am

THAILAND

Variety Jones – mentor to Dread Pirate Roberts

Well, at this point, still “alleged” Variety Jones, but most certainly Plural of Mongoose, aka the Megabyte Megalomaniac, aka Roger Thomas Clark.

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