I feel like this is a hack that is rarely talked about. And it’s the most reliable method I’ve found for getting an email account that I can use for signing up to other websites.
Imagine you want to create a completely anonymous account on some website. Most websites require an email account to sign up. if you’re lucky you can use one of those a temporary email services, but many websites block those nowadays. They only accept trusted email providers like Gmail, Protonmail, etc. And trying to make an anonymous account on those providers is difficult. Even Protonmail, surprisingly. If you try to sign up for Protonmail using a VPN or Tor, they will ask for a phone number or a second email account. So now you have to get a phone number anonymously (very difficult), or get another email account anonymously, back to square one.
Darknet markets solve this problem. Pay a bit of Monero, and you get an account. Completely anonymous. Now I won’t pretend it’s easy. Even just signing up for a darknet market often requires learning how to PGP encrypt/decrypt messages. But it only takes an 30 min or so to figure it out and sign up, and it opens up a new world of tools to use for privacy. There are many other types of accounts that you can buy aside from Protonmail, and many other products in general that you can buy.
I don’t get why Protonmail doesn’t just accept anonymous crypto as an option during signup, but until they do this is honestly the most reliable option I’ve found. I really wish more websites just accepted crypto for account creation. It’s understandable that in order to prevent spam accounts, account creation has to cost something, and crypto allows it to cost something without costing your privacy.
Anyways, here’s a quick guide to get started. I’ll avoid direct links since I don’t know if those are allowed.
- install Tor Browser Bundle, and use it for the following steps
- search for websites like Daunt, Dread forums, and Tor Taxi. Darknet markets change all the time so use those websites to figure out which ones are currently active. Cross-check links across multiple websites to make sure they are trustworthy, since often scam websites will try to pose as legitimate ones
- look for markets that let you search for the product you’re interested in before signing up, to save you time
- some markets require you to load funds into the market and then pay using those funds. Avoid loading more than you need, since some markets have “rugpulled” before (aka taken everybody’s funds and disappeared. This is the risk of an anonymous market).
Edit: also if for some reason a seller doesn’t accept Monero, you can use a crypto swap. Basically you send the swap service some Monero, tell them what crypto to convert it to (like Bitcoin or Ethereum), and where to send it to. Many can be used anonymously, without signup
Regulation means nothing, if the feds want to track people there’s endless strings they can pull. Plenty of evidence online of feds intercepting packages and bugging devices. They can even use illegal means and then use parallel construction.
On the other hand, just because the feds collect a bunch of dsta to be decrypted later, doesn’t mean they actually will. Encryption is very rarely cracked, it’s far more difficult than tracking people down via camera footage. Not to mention, statute of limitations means that even if they crack it 20 years later, the data might be useless by then.
Fact is, I can send some monero to somebody today and know it won’t be cracked within the year. But if I put on a mask and gloves and try to send a letter in the dead of the night, I know there’s still a chance that I’m caught.
There’s a reason why hackers today choose to use crypto and mixers rather than cash. Same reason why the US criminalized tornado wallet. Turns out, Monero and mixers are incredibly effective.
Physical surveillance is barely even circumstantial evidence of the crimes we’re talking about, Hndl troves are incontrovertible. People get caught using monero to do crimes all the time.
Of course if you dress up like the hamburgler you’re gonna stick out. Just look normal.
I did not intend to fight you about this, the point of my reply was to provide some context about the often overlooked physical side of things.
We very often overlook the physical because we think it’s too unknown and that we understand the digital much better but in many years I’ve never met a person who thought that way and could explain in detail how the web works or why certificates are scrubbed.
Keep your nose clean out there, you never know whose gonna be looking in 20 years…