Your personal information is invaluable to you but it also has a dollar value, especially to cybercriminals on the dark web.
With data breaches becoming increasingly common, more of our details are being bought and sold illegally online every day.
Understanding the monetary worth of your browsing history, login credentials, bank details and more is important for managing your privacy.
What Kinds Of Personal Information Get Sold On The Dark Web?
Cybercriminals are always looking for any data they can profit from. Some key types of personal information commonly traded on the dark web include:
- Login Credentials – Usernames and passwords for email, social media, online banking, and other accounts can be sold for $10 to $30 each.
- Financial Information – Bank account and credit card numbers, along with personally identifying info like Social Security numbers, can go for $5 to $200 depending on account balances and credit limits.
- Medical Records – Detailed health histories and prescription information command prices from $20 to over $1,000 per person.
- Browsing History – Web browsing records can reveal people’s interests, habits, and purchase tendencies, selling for approximately $5 to $20 per person.
- Physical Addresses – Home addresses paired with names and contacts fetch between $10 and $50 each.
Why Do Criminals Buy Personal Information?
Cybercriminals profit by exploiting your data in a variety of illegal ways:
- Identity Theft – Stolen personal and financial information allows criminals to impersonate victims and make purchases or open fraudulent accounts in their names. This can rack up huge debts for victims to deal with.
- Targeted Scams – Detailed profiles from browsing histories and purchases let scammers craft personalized phishing emails and messages that are more likely to succeed against specific individuals.
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- Account Takeovers – Login credentials for email, social, banking, and other accounts let hackers take control of accounts for financial theft, identity theft, or cryptocurrency mining. Gmail strikethrough passwords can sell for upwards of $50 each on the dark web due to the amount of personal data accessible.
- Medical Fraud – With health histories and insurance info, fraudsters can illicitly obtain prescriptions to resell or file false claims with insurers.
- Blackmail – Criminals can threaten to publicly expose your browsing history, location history, or other personal info unless blackmail payments are made.
How Do Criminals Get My Personal Information?
While hacking sophisticated databases takes technical skills beyond most criminals, they have many other avenues for obtaining personal information including:
- Data Breaches – Massive company data breaches at retailers, banks, hospitals, insurers, credit agencies, and tech companies have exposed billions of people’s records containing sensitive personal information.
- Phishing – Deceptive emails and online scams trick users into entering login credentials and personal information that gets directly collected by criminals.
- Public Records – Significant personal data can be gathered from public records like vehicle registrations, property records, court documents, and voter registration records available online.
- Tracking Technologies – Advanced tracking techniques like cookies, web beacons, device fingerprinting, and spyware enable criminals to compile detailed browsing histories and usage profiles.
- Personal Devices – Malware infections on phones, laptops, and IoT devices provide access to directly steal personal files, photos, messages, and browsing activity.
How Can I Protect My Personal Information From Criminals?
Fortunately, there are steps you can take to better guard your privacy and make your data less valuable to the dark web:
- Enable two-factor or multifactor authentication on important accounts whenever possible.
- Avoid oversharing personal information online, even privately, and use strict social media privacy settings.
- Use a password manager to create and store strong, unique passwords for each account.
- Be wary of emails, calls, or messages requesting personal information or account access from questionable sources.
- Monitor financial statements regularly for any unauthorized activity and freeze credit reports when not actively seeking credit.
- Limit the use of public Wi-Fi networks and regularly update security on personal devices.
- Clean up online presence by removing unnecessary public records and search results containing personal info.
How Much Is My Email Password Worth On The Dark Web?
Email passwords typically sell for $10 to $30 on the dark web since emails contain valuable personal information and account reset links.
What Is The Price For Credit Card Details On The Dark Web?
Stolen credit card numbers alone sell for around $5 to $20 on the dark web, while cards with names, expiration dates, CVVs, and high balances can fetch over $200.
Can Someone Buy My DNA or Fingerprint Data On The Dark Web?
So far there are no known cases of DNA or fingerprint data being sold on the dark web, but biometric data remains a major privacy concern.
Is It Possible To Buy Someone’s Entire Identity On The Dark Web?
Full identity packages with social security numbers, birth dates, account logins, and other personal data sell for hundreds to thousands of dollars on the dark web.
What Makes Social Media Logins So Valuable To Cybercriminals?
Social media accounts contain a wealth of personal data, connections, conversations, photos, and account password reset capabilities that make them very valuable to hackers.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the value of personal information on the dark web is substantial and alarming. This underground marketplace capitalizes on stolen data, with prices varying based on factors like the type of data and its potential uses.
Protecting personal information is paramount, as it’s a valuable commodity for cybercriminals seeking to exploit and profit from individuals’ privacy and security vulnerabilities.
