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Personal information, drugs, weapons and more found on Dark Web

What it is and how to protect yourself
Posted at 12:14 AM, Mar 05, 2018
and last updated 2018-03-05 08:19:02-05

It's a little known place online where things like your Uber account and your stolen identity get sold.

When you need something, you may go to an online market place like Amazon or Google.  But when a criminal needs something they go to a place far more sinister and anonymous: the Dark Web.

FBI Special Agent Carlos Goris spends his days working in the dark. 

“The Dark Web is worldwide, it goes everywhere, internationally and anyone can access it,” said Goris.  “It's just another online market.”  

Except everything in that market is illegal.  You can find drugs, weapons, and you can find child porn.  It’s also a place where hackers are for hire. 

You might even run into ISIS operatives in this secretive layer of the web that can be accessed by using a special Tor network.

“It's the Amazon of the bad guys,” said computer expert Alan Crowetz, who took us to the Dark Web.

“Here's your number one European arms dealer, how's that for an advertisement? Need a grenade or grenade launcher, this is the guy,” said Crowetz scrolling a list of services offered on the Dark Web.  We also found someone offering unlimited Uber and Lyft rides from stolen accounts, as well as stolen personal information.

“Change your passwords, don't use the same password on every site,” said Crowetz.

“We have to stay ahead of these guys, so change your passwords frequently, updating your software, anti-virus software, anti-spy technology. Your firewall should always be on, to protect yourself from outside adversaries,” said Sp. Agent Goris.

And whatever you do -- don't have the same password for multiple accounts.

“Hey great, I use [the password] on Facebook.  That's not good, someone has my Facebook account. But if it's also on your bank account or your credit card account, that's a lot worse,” said Crowetz.

If you go to websites like https://haveibeenpwned.com/ you can type in your email address and see where your personal information may have ended up.

Also keep in mind, if you’re on the Dark Web – be aware that the FBI is also there, and they are watching you.