How FBI caught Ross Ulbricht, alleged creator of criminal marketplace Silk Road

[Kushinator]

A most fascinating and disturbing story. It is like watching a building burn to the ground.

The FBI caught the man accused of creating Silk Road -- the shadowy e-commerce site it describes as "the most sophisticated and extensive criminal marketplace on the Internet today" -- after he allegedly posted his Gmail address online, according to court documents.

Federal agents swooped on Ross William Ulbricht in a San Francisco public library Tuesday afternoon, charging the 29-year-old American with narcotics trafficking, computer hacking and money laundering. They allege he is "the Dread Pirate Roberts," the Silk Road's mysterious founder, who drew his pseudonym from the feared, fictitious character in the film The Princess Bride.


The FBI claims the former physics and engineering student even publicly alluded to his alleged criminal enterprise on his LinkedIn profile, with a statement describing how his goals had "shifted" in accordance with his libertarian economic views since leaving grad school at Pennsylvania State University.

I have been addicted to this story since it broke, as i have heard about the Silk Road but never really believed you could anonymously sell "whatever" on the internet just like you would on Ebay or Amazon. The conspiracy theories going around reddit and such range from believable (this is not the actual DPR) to "put down the pipe" (it was ran by the government).

Where did the alleged creator the worlds largest online black market get the inspiration for his endeavor? Mises.org

The rest of the article can be found here.

 

[Jredbaron96]

I remember seeing screen caps of The Silk Road on some forum ages ago. Serious **** man.