Dark Web Murder-for-Hire Scam Exposed in Chilling Podcast
A new podcast series, Kill List, brings to light a disturbing underworld lurking in the darkest corners of the internet, where criminal elements exploit human vulnerability and malevolence. The podcast follows investigative journalist Carl Miller’s shocking discovery of a dark web site that purported to offer assassination services for hire, all paid for in cryptocurrency. The site, however, was eventually revealed as a scam—but one with dangerous consequences that reflected chilling truths about both the digital age and human nature.
A Sinister Discovery in the Pandemic’s Shadows
The journey begins in 2020, during the early months of the global pandemic, when skilled IT expert and hacker Chris Monteiro stumbled across a security flaw in a website on the dark web. His curiosity quickly turned to horror as he gained full access to a “kill list” maintained on the site. The list, eerily resembling a spreadsheet, contained the names of 175 individuals worldwide. Along with each name were intimate details: addresses, personal habits, daily routines, and often chilling instructions from anonymous customers willing to pay for these individuals’ deaths.
The website appeared to be a market for hired assassinations. Potential customers could profile their targets, pay in Bitcoin, and request how the execution should be carried out. The unsettling reality was made even more harrowing by the matter-of-fact nature of the requests: “Where, how, and what with does not bother me at all,” reads one note, while another simply asks for “execution time in advance.” The clinical detachment in these communications brought a disturbing window into the minds of those desperate enough to seek such services.
The Scam Behind the Horror
The website, however, turned out to be a scam. Run by a Romanian criminal, the site was designed to defraud its users—pocketing their cryptocurrency payments while offering no real intention of fulfilling the violent promises. While this might initially seem like good news, the scam revealed something far more troubling. The fact that there were people around the globe—some potentially in imminent danger—who were unaware they had been marked for death was unsettling. The risk was real: individuals could react violently after realizing they had been defrauded, possibly deciding to take justice into their own hands.
This scenario tragically played out in at least one case. A woman in Minneapolis became a victim after her husband, having paid for her murder, took it upon himself to stage her suicide when he realized he had been scammed. This incident demonstrated the lethal consequences of online fraud intersecting with dangerous, often emotionally unstable individuals.
Ethical Dilemmas and Journalistic Challenges
Faced with this disturbing information, Miller found himself grappling with a profound ethical dilemma: what to do with a list of names that could potentially contain real people in danger? He took his findings to the Metropolitan Police. While officers initially met his claims with skepticism, eventually, the list was passed on to Interpol, as many of the names were linked to countries around the world.
Interpol’s involvement, however, was little more than a procedural move, with no guarantee of follow-up action. Realizing that the global bureaucracy was unlikely to deliver any immediate safety for those listed, Miller assembled a team of investigative journalists to contact the individuals directly. This task, however, proved daunting. Phone calls were met with disbelief, as most potential victims understandably hung up when told a stranger was calling to warn them of a potential assassination plot. The team ultimately relied on local journalists in various countries to deliver the news face-to-face, a method that finally succeeded in some cases.
Disturbing Patterns of Modern Masculinity
As Miller and his team continued to investigate, a disturbing pattern emerged. The majority of the individuals named on the kill list were women, often targeted by estranged husbands or boyfriends. This commonality speaks to deeper issues within modern masculinity—an alarming trend of men resorting to extreme measures when they feel they have lost control of their partners. One particularly harrowing case involved an American doctor who sought to have his estranged wife kidnapped, tortured, and injected with heroin until she agreed to return to him. The existence of such stories underscores the extent to which some individuals will go when relationships spiral out of control.
Podcasting as the Perfect Medium for Investigative Journalism
The decision to tell this complex and horrifying story through a podcast series was a strategic one. Unlike traditional journalism that is often constrained by time and format, podcasting allows for a deep dive into the details, and Kill List takes full advantage of this. The medium offers an opportunity to explore the complexities of the story, taking listeners on an intimate, audio-driven journey through the tangled web of criminal activity, ethical quandaries, and human behavior that underpins the investigation.
Miller’s podcast also showcases the unique strengths of journalism in the digital age. While newspapers and traditional broadcasting are bound by mass-market appeal and quick sound bites, podcasts can serve niche audiences looking for detailed, nuanced storytelling. By focusing on the dark side of the internet in this way, Kill List provides a stark reminder of the dangers that can arise from technology, anonymity, and human malevolence.
Kill List is more than just a true crime podcast; it is a reflection on how the internet can act as a mirror, amplifying some of the darkest tendencies of human nature. In the same way that the early web revealed society’s consumption of pornography or social media exposed the torrents of misogyny lurking beneath the surface, this dark web scam illustrates how deeply-rooted emotional insecurities and power dynamics can lead to terrifying real-world consequences. The podcast serves as both a cautionary tale and a gripping piece of investigative journalism, forcing listeners to confront uncomfortable truths about the dangers that lurk online.