Revealed: Your most valuable personal details traded on the dark web, including logins for Amazon, BA, Facebook and Netflix
- Personal details for brands like Amazon and British Airways are on sale for £7
- Bank details sell for £350 but cards and passports can be had for as little as £10
- Some items like Amazon, Facebook and Uber logins have spiralled in price after a year of data breaches
Personal login details for some of the world's biggest brands, including Amazon, British Airways, Facebook and Netflix – as well as for the viral free video game Fortnite - are available for as little as £7 on the dark web, data shows.
Analysis of listings on five major dark web marketplaces; Berlusconi, Dream, Empire, Tochka Free and Wallstreet Market, found personal details for everything from shopping sites and streaming services, to identity documents to bank details are on sale.
It means your entire personal identity could be bought for around £800, comparison service Top10VPN claims.
Could your personal details be up for auction on the dark web? An index based on analysis of five major dark web marketplaces has been compiled that shows the most expensive logins
Bank details remained the most coveted and expensive item according to the latest dark web market price index, listing for nearly £350.
However, credit and debit cards and driving licence and passport details were available for far less.
Credit cards could be found listed for an average of £24.91, debit cards £5.69, driving licence for £13.28 and passport for £9.93.
The virtual private network comparison service said a series of data breaches over the last 12 months contributed to the 'thriving' online black market trade in personal details, while it found that some products had jumped in value, often by huge percentages.
Details for British Airways accounts could be purchased for an average of £31.94, a whopping 375 per cent increase in value since 2018.
The report says: 'Criminals need to travel too. In accessing BA accounts, fraudsters can siphon off points that can be used on multiple airlines - making these logins even more valuable.'
The airline said last year that around 244,000 payment cards were put at risk by a data breach that occurred between 21 August and 5 September 2018, meaning scammers could potentially get hold of customer's names, email addresses, and credit card details – including the three digit CVV code on the back of the card.
Item for sale | Average price on the dark web |
---|---|
Bank details | £347.68 |
Credit Card | £24.91 |
Western Union | £22.47 |
PayPal | £14.06 |
Driving Licence | £13.28 |
Passport | £9.93 |
Debit card | £5.69 |
Source: Top10VPN.com |
Brand | Average price on the dark web |
---|---|
Morrisons | £15.95 |
Amazon | £14.53 |
eBay | £13.89 |
La Redoute | £13.00 |
Foot Locker | £11.33 |
Studio | £10.86 |
JD Williams | £9.87 |
Nectar | £7.02 |
Gap | £5.37 |
Nike | £4.20 |
Source: Top10VPN.com |
The airline's owner International Airlines Group added that up to 77,000 customers who made reward bookings using a payment card between 21 April and 28 July 2018, a month before the larger breach, could also have had their personal and card details stolen.
Other details that spiralled in price over the last 12 months include logins for the dating website Match.com, which rose 168 per cent to around £6, as well as personal details for accounts with tech firms Amazon and Facebook, ride hailing app Uber, and streaming service Netflix.
Brand | Average price on the dark web | Value increase since 2018 |
---|---|---|
British Airways | £31.94 | 375% |
Match.com | £6 | 168% |
Amazon | £14.53 | 114% |
£6.96 | 86% | |
Uber | £7.61 | 52% |
Netflix | £8.19 | 37% |
£1.54 | 28% | |
Source: Top10VPN.com |
Both Facebook and Uber faced scandals over data breaches in 2018, with Facebook announcing last September that almost 50million accounts were vulnerable to a takeover by hackers, while Uber was fined nearly £115million by UK and US authorities following a 2016 data breach that affected 35million customers and 3.7million drivers.
The price of Facebook details increased by 86 per cent to £6.96 in 2019, and Uber details by 52 per cent to £7.61.
The comparison site said the Facebook price increase reflected its 'heightened potential for fraud as its users increasingly tether payment details to the site to play in-app games and use the Marketplace.'
Meanwhile, for Uber, it added: 'As with stolen BA details, hacked Uber accounts allow users to get around using someone else's details.
'There have also been reports of scammers using hacked Uber accounts for their everyday travel, usually deep in Russia.'
However Amazon topped both with the average price of personal details rising by 114 per cent over the last 12 months to £14.53.
The online shopping giant admitted it exposed an unknown number of customer names and email addresses after a 'technical error' on its website last November, days before Black Friday, but refused to give any more details.
The report claims: 'Stolen Amazon accounts have tripled in price, which may be in anticipation of a wider rollout for Amazon Go – thieves would be able to wander in, fill a trolley and leave without detection.'
Netflix account details are selling for an average of £8.19, an increase of 37 per cent on last year, which is slightly more than the £7.99 it costs per month for your own account.
Simon Migliano, head of research at Top10VPN, said: 'Just any like other marketplace, dark web markets are susceptible to the ebbs and flows of supply and demand.
'Last year's serious security breaches involving Facebook and British Airways customers led to vast quantities of personal data flooding these black market sites.
'The high profile nature of these hacks has also created quite the appetite for these stolen account details, meaning that prices have notably jumped since last year too.'
One name that might not instinctively make sense is Fortnite.
The Battle Royale game became a global phenomenon among young and old alike attracting more than 125million players, including celebrities like England footballers Dele Alli and Jesse Lingard.
While it is free, it offers in-game micro-transactions like unique skins and items, which can be purchased with an in-game currency 'v bucks', bought using your own money.
Fan: Jesse Lingard and his England team mate frequently play popular game Fortnite
They offer no competitive advantage but are often purchased because they look cool aesthetically.
Simon added that it was these items scammers were after, saying: 'Hacked Fortnite accounts are actually more appealing for using stored credit cards to splurge on highly desirable in-game perks than for broader fraudulent schemes.'
The game fell victim to a data breach of its own last year, with developer Epic Games alerted to a hole last November that allowed hackers to control customers' accounts and make purchases.
Epic has confirmed it has since the flaw, discovered by cybersecurity firm Check Point Software Technologies.
Simon said: 'Storing payment information across a whole range of online accounts - even social media - is now par for the course for the majority of consumers as it's simply so convenient.
'The downside is that if a fraudster gains access to one account they then, essentially, have the keys to the kingdom.
'What this all serves to underline is how web users need to remain constantly vigilant as identity thieves can access personal details in a variety of ways.
'As well as always using unique passwords, encrypting connections to WiFi hotspots with a VPN is a must.
'It's otherwise all too easy for hackers to swipe sensitive data transmitted via these public networks.'
Paul Ducklin, senior technologist at cybersecurity firm Sophos, said: 'You need to take price lists like this with a pinch of salt.
'Prices can vary by seller for many reasons, including the likelihood of the password actually working, the usefulness of the account, the amount you are willing to haggle, and the age of the stolen data.
'It's not like the price of a litre of petrol, where the quantity and quality of what you are buying is regulated and consistent across all sellers, so that prices can be directly compared.
'Nevertheless, the price lists do make both fascinating and worrying reading.
'Online accounts have genuine value to crooks, and that makes them an attractive target.
'The existence of a "password bazaar" is also an important reminder that cybercrooks can and do specialise - the crook who stole your password doesn't also need the skills to milk your account, write malware or hack your website.
'He can simply sell the data on to the next guy, so what happens to you tomorrow depends on who's buying today.'
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