In 2012, HackBB was far and away the most popular hacking, fraud and carding forum on Tor. All good things come to an end: 2013 had been a whole lot less kind to the famous forum.
HackBB has been hacked and wiped twice so far this year. The first hack on March 22, 2013 took place when a moderator’s account was compromised. Through that account, the hacker gained greater access and was eventually able to access the site’s database. He attempted to delete it.
A post quickly went up on Silk Road discussing the attack:
The hacker has been exploiting people’s PMs, and using whatever info he gleaned from them to try to extort money. If anything, it’s a lesson in deleting your PMs on the regular.
Others took it as a reminder to always use PGP in illicit communications.
The second hack took place on May 15, 2013. Here’s site owner Optimus Crime addressing the issue:
Just to update everyone the site was hacked again. Other user permissions were set for separate accounts during the last hack that I overlooked (sound familiar?) which gave the attacker enough leverage to get back into ACP. I have removed permissions and closed all compromised accounts that could be used. I had backups this time but unfortunately I get timed out when attempting to restore the datatabase. I am trying to contact the server admin now to see if he has a working backup but there is a slim chance he will check his inbox. I’m going to continue working today on tryign to get my last db back restored so we at least have that.
HackBB was a valuable hacking resource for thousands of readers. Now, popular tutorials are gone, remaining members are weary, volumes of buyer and vendor feedback history has been erased and markets are quieter than many would like.
Scammers are now testing members on a regular basis, making a recovery that much more difficult.
Multiple scammers are posing as Optimus Crime and other popular members. OC addressed the large uptick in attempted rip-offs on the site:
This happens during moments of uncertainty. Rippers know if they can cast doubt on management then users are more susceptible to pay directly. As I mentioned in the announcement we will be down for maintenance soon. Once we are back up I will be bringing our moderators back and work diligently to clean up here. Until then as sorealsr suggested use escrow. You don’t have to use ours if you prefer but for your own sake use somebody’s and don’t let it be the “service” they suggested.
Maintenance and extended downtime has not solved the myriad problems facing HackBB so far but Optimus Crime is holding out hope of restoring the database to some extent.
The Verified Marketplace is showing some signs of life. Three vendors are selling credit cards and forged documents. The HackBB Escrow — one of the most widely trusted .onion escrows outside of Silk Road and Black Market Reloaded — is active and accepting customers.
