Young housewife unmasked as French ‘dark web’ boss
Authorities said it was ‘pretty unusual’ for a woman to be so high up in a shady internet business
A 28-year-old housewife with no criminal record has been unmasked as the woman behind a major French “dark web” site which sold drugs and guns until it was shut down last week.
The woman was among four people arrested last Tuesday when intelligence agents closed the Black Hand website, where fake ID documents and stolen bank data had also changed hands for more than two years.
Agents from the DNRED intelligence agency seized nearly €4,000 (US$4,640) in cash and around €25,000 in online currencies while swooping on the suspects in four simultaneous raids around France.
The mother of two, who went by various online pseudonyms including “Anouchka” and “Hades”, did not create the site but worked as its administrator, an agent said on condition of anonymity.
“A woman active at that level, it’s pretty unusual,” the agent said, adding that Anouchka, who did not have a job, was arrested near the northern city of Lille.
