How Much is Your Personal Information Worth on the Dark Web?
Have you ever wondered how much your personal information is worth on the dark web? Privacy Affairs researchers have scoured through listings on the internet’s haven for criminals, misfits, and miscreants – the Dark Web – and created an overview of the average prices of stolen personal data… hopefully not your data.
In the Dark Web Price Index 2020, the prices for commonly sold personal data are listed and you can see exactly what your personal information is worth should it fall into the hand of one of these seedy criminals who buy and sell on the Dark Web, mostly protected from prosecution due to the encrypted and convoluted security precautions these criminals take to protect themselves and their equally seedy customers.
It was astounding to use how cheap some of these purloined items are worth. For instance, a Mastercard with PIN sells for $15. A Visa card with PIN sells for $25. And an American Express card with PIN sells for just $35.
On the other hand, a hacked Gmail account sells for around $156 and a hacked Facebook account sells for around $74.
The easy the information is to obtain, the cheaper the price. So this chart should give you some idea of what information is the easiest and the hardest to pilfer.
This was an eye-opener for us. And hopefully, it will be for you as well. Be sure to use two-factor or multi-factor authentication wherever available… always b sure to use strong passwords on every account where your personal information is stored. Another idea that helps to protect your important and sensitive online accounts is to change your passwords on accounts that contain sensitive information every few months.
Being safe and secure on the Web takes some effort, but it’s not difficult. It will take you some time and it will take some thought, but not nearly as much time or aggravation as it will take if your identity or personal information is stolen.
Using a password manager like LastPass (the free version is fine) or any other reputable password manager is essential. Most password managers can generate super-strong passwords and remember them for you. And most password managers worth their salt will automatically fill in website logins for you.
If you’re still not convinced that staying safe and secure online requires some diligence on your part, take a look at the chart below from the Dark Web Price Index.
| Category | Product | Avg. dark web Price (USD) |
| Credit Card Data | Cloned Mastercard with PIN | $15 |
| Cloned American Express with PIN | $35 | |
| Cloned VISA with PIN | $25 | |
| Credit card details, account balance up to $1000 | $12 | |
| Credit card details, account balance up to $5000 | $20 | |
| Stolen online banking logins, minimum $100 on account | $35 | |
| Stolen online banking logins, minimum $2000 on account | $65 | |
| Walmart account with a credit card attached | $10 | |
| Payment processing services | Stolen PayPal account details, minimum $100 | $198.56 |
| PayPal transfer from stolen account, $1000 – $3000 | $320.39 | |
| PayPal transfers from stolen account, $3000+ | $155.94 | |
| Western Union transfer from the stolen account, above $1000 | $98.15 | |
| Forged documents | US driving license, average quality | $70 |
| US driving license, high quality | $550 | |
| Auto insurance card | $70 | |
| AAA emergency road service membership card | $70 | |
| Wells Fargo bank statement | $25 | |
| Wells Fargo bank statement with transactions | $80 | |
| Rutgers State University student ID | $70 | |
| US, Canada, or Europe passport | $1500 | |
| Europe national ID card | $550 | |
| Social Media | Hacked Facebook account | $74.5 |
| Hacked Instagram account | $55.45 | |
| Hacked Twitter account | $49 | |
| Hacked Gmail account | $155.73 | |
| Instagram followers x 1000 | $7 | |
| Spotify followers x 1000 | $3 | |
| Twitch followers x 1000 | $6 | |
| Tick Tok followers x 1000 | $15 | |
| LinkedIn followers x 1000 | $10 | |
| LinkedIn company page followers x 1000 | $10 | |
| Pinterest followers x 1000 | $5 |
For the complete chart visit Privacy Affair’s Dark Web Price Index here.
This will cure your hiccups!
I use RoboForm to save log-on info. to fill out form requirements for various sites I use and this includes the applicable passwords .
Am I right in assuming that no ‘Password Manager’ like LastPass in going to be capable of automatically changing the the password for the applicable site on my RoboForm ????
Best regards,
David.
You can set LastPass to change & remember passwords automatically – it is an option.