Incognito Market is facing withdrawal issues and accusations of exit scam. Dark Web Detective Confirms Exit Scam Amid Bitcoin Rally.
In the gloomy corners of the dark web, a major marketplace known as Incognito Market has recently come under scrutiny. This platform, predominantly used for narcotics trafficking, has become a focus of controversy due to sudden withdrawal problems reported by its users.
The marketplace is known mainly as a platform to trade narcotics and is valued between $10 million to $30 million, according to cyberthreat intelligence provider Dark Web Informer.
On March 4, 2024, X user @DarkWebInformer posted the following:
“WARNING. Many users on Incognito Market are having BTC and XMR withdrawal issues. I will update this thread if Incognito admins update or receive another update from HugBunter.”
Withdrawal Issues and Accusations
On Tuesday, March 5, the darknet community was shocked by reports of Incognito Market users being unable to withdraw Bitcoin and Monero. These incidents quickly escalated into accusations against the site’s administrators, fueling fears of a possible exit scam. These types of scams, in which site operators suddenly close and abscond with users’ deposited funds, are not unknown in the underground corners of the Internet.
In response to the growing accusations, the Incognito administrator, known by the pseudonym “Pharoah,” turned to the Reddit-like darknet-based platform Dread to calm users’ fears. Pharoah attributed the withdrawal difficulties to a recent review of the site’s withdrawal systems. They cited the “initial stages of this update” as the cause of temporary usability issues due to server multitasking.
“Please note that the initial stages of this upgrade may briefly affect usability in the first few days since the servers are multitasking on both old data synchronization and new requests,” they said.
Confirmation of an Exit Scam
Despite these assurances, the situation deteriorated as withdrawal problems persisted. Concerns were further compounded by a terrifying post by renowned dark web security expert, HugBunter.
Hugbunter revealed a conversation with Pharoah, in which they were allegedly offered a bribe to remove negative posts about Dread’s Incognito Market. This revelation led Hugbunter to unequivocally confirm the allegations of an exit scam.
“My warning here will not make a difference to funds already lost to Incognito, but hopefully, this will be enough now to try and ensure users stay clear and avoid losing more,” added Hugbunter.
Bitcoin Rally Coincidence
Amid this turmoil, the cryptocurrency world witnessed a significant event when Bitcoin surpassed its previous all-time high, setting a new record just above $69,200. This rally added an intriguing backdrop to the drama unfolding around the incognito market, highlighting the volatile intersection of cryptocurrency markets and the darknet.
On the other hand, Ledger has warned XRP holders about growing scam efforts involving fake airdrops, as Crypto News Flash previously reported, adding another layer of caution to the digital currency landscape.
Recently, the price of BTC had fallen. 0.80% in the last 24 hours, it fell to the price of $66,093.56. But this represents an increase of 14.45% over the last 7 days.
Meanwhile, the XMR price has also dropped by 1.22% in the last 24 hours but is still up by 6.37% over the last 7 days, currently sitting at $147.83.
By Audy Castaneda
