a hooded person in front of a digital background.

How Hard Is It to Remove My Information from the Dark Web?

Wondering how to remove your information from the clutches of the Dark Web? Our Removal Team can show you how. 

 

Why is it so easy for Internet hackers to obtain and exploit a person’s personal information? Where do they get this information? Have you ever wondered “is it possible to remove my information from Dark Web”?

 

For every identity breached by hackers browsing the Dark Web, thousands of other people will likely be targeted by the same cybercriminal. Even more infuriating is the fact that most Dark Web hackers never face punishment.

 

Take the recent data breach Yahoo involving exposure of more than 3 billion Yahoo accounts. Two years later, Yahoo still does not know who committed this breach.

 

But what they do know is that most of that customer data was sold on the Dark Web.

What is the Dark Web?

When you browse the Internet for general information, you are accessing websites that don’t need a special browser with which to access them. For example, everybody uses either Chrome, Safari, Firefox or Microsoft Edge as their primary browser.

 

However, you cannot get to the Dark Web via mainstream browsers. That’s because most of the Dark Web is hidden (encrypted) to avoid detection by law enforcement agencies.

 

So, what is the Dark Web? If it sounds a little scary to you, that’s because it is scary. The Dark Web is where you can buy just about anything you want–from fake pharmaceutical drugs to assault weapons to antiques stolen from museums.

 

For the most part, if you make a purchase on the Dark Web, it’s likely an illegal purchase. Also be aware that if you aren’t an experienced Dark Web customer, you could pay a lot of money to a stranger and end up getting nothing in return.

 

Most websites operating on the Dark Web require users to access them through an anonymous server. One of the most commonly used servers is the “Onion Router”, AKA as Tor. Originally, the U.S. Navy developed the Tor browser to support anonymous searching on the Internet.

 

Today, Tor has been exclusively adopted by a global network of unethical players who make a living selling weapons, drugs and personal identities to other unscrupulous individuals.

Browse the Dark Web at Your Own Risk!

Should you search the Dark Web to see if your personal information is for sale? Dark Web specialists answer this question with a resounding no.

 

Take the story of Brett A., a 35-year-old tax preparer who asked several of his computer-savvy friends “How do I remove my information from Dark Web?” Some told Brett about the Tor website, but warned him about the danger.

 

Others suggested Brett hire a professional company specializing in removing personal information from the Internet.

 

Brett did some of his own research into the Dark Web and Tor. He also googled “how do I remove my information from Dark Web“, but did not get the answers he was looking for. So he decided to download Tor and see what he could find. After all, as long as he didn’t interact with anybody on the Dark Web, he should remain anonymous and safe, right?

 

Unfortunately, something different happened. Within an hour of accessing the Dark Web, Brett received a voice message on his cell phone. A strange voice told him to visit this website if he wanted his information removed from the Dark Web.

Brett immediately felt alarmed

How did somebody get his phone number? How did somebody know what he was doing on the Dark Web?

 

Brett deleted the voice message and the Tor browser off his laptop. But the messages kept coming. They warned him of finding his bank accounts drained and his social security number sold if he didn’t reply to their message. Frightened, Brett contacted the police.

 

A detective told him there really wasn’t anything they could do until he actually experienced identity theft. They also advised getting a new phone number and inspecting his laptop inspected for spyware.

 

After doing everything the police told him to do, Brett stopped receiving voice messages. He never again visited the Dark Web to find out if his personal information was out there.

 

Instead, Brett relied on professional, experienced tech wizards to find and remove his information from the Dark Web.

Why Doesn’t Law Enforcement Actively Monitor the Dark Web?

Dark Web forums are monitored by the FBI, CIA, and IT professionals working for large corporations. What makes it so difficult to catch hackers posting stolen identities is that new forums constantly pop up, shut down, and then emerge elsewhere.

 

In addition, many forums operate offline, relying on bulletin board systems using dial-up Internet access to evade detection.

 

The biggest problem with finding and prosecuting identity hackers selling personal information on the Dark Web is that you don’t know it’s happening until the damage is done.

 

Unless you check your bank account and credit card statements every hour (and most of us don’t do that), you won’t know your checking account’s been hacked.

 

By the time you find out, those Dark Web forums selling your personal information have vanished, leaving no digital traces behind for police to investigate.

 

Taking preventive action is the best and only way to avoid being victimized by identity thieves selling your information on the Dark Web.

How Hard Is It to Remove My Information from Dark Web? Can I Remove My Information Without Visiting the Dark Web?

Unfortunately, you can’t remove your personal information from the Dark Web without actually entering the Dark Web.

 

What happened to Brett A. is the reason why experts strongly urge the general public to hire professionals to do the job for them.

 

However, you can reduce your footprint on the Internet by “scrubbing” the following items that contain your name or picture:

 

  • Videos
  • Social media tags
  • Twitter mentions
  • Images (that includes mugshots)
  • Present and past email accounts
  • Comments you’ve made on social media sites
  • Services or items you’ve bought or sold

 

This is by no means a complete list of things you’ll need to remove to make yourself disappear from the Internet.

 

Have you heard of PeopleFinder and Spokeo? Known as data brokers, these companies are essentially selling personal information on the “non-Dark” Web.

 

While they offer addresses and city locations of individuals for free, they require you to pay them to provide a person’s criminal background. Moreover, these data broker websites deliberately make it time-consuming and complicated to opt out.

 

They know most people don’t have the time or resources to fill out paperwork, send faxes and speak to multiple representatives whose job is to stall you indefinitely.

How Can I Remove My Information from Dark Web Forums?

The latest report from the FBI summarizing identity theft in the U.S. offers alarming statistics:

 

  • Number of identity theft victims in 2018: 23 million
  • Financial cost of annual identity theft: $15 billion
  • Most common forms of identity theft: compromise of bank accounts, credit card accounts and misuse of personal identification data to open new accounts
  • Slightly over 50% of identity theft victims lived in a household with an income of at least $75,000

 

The financial and emotional consequences of identity theft show why it’s important to remove your data from the Dark Web.

 

According to the Identity Theft Resource Center:

  • Nearly 7% of identity theft victims resorted to payday loans to replace empty bank accounts
  • About one-quarter of victims had to take time off work due to emotional problems
  • Many had to borrow money to pay bills because identity thieves had drained their savings and checking accounts
  • Almost 20% were forced to sell items because they had no emergency resources available

 

In addition, experts warn nothing is stopping hackers from developing malware that can escape the most advanced detection tools.

It gets even worse…

Rogue nations are actively recruiting hackers familiar with the Dark Web by paying them in cryptocurrency like Bitcoin or Ethereum.

 

At the moment, it’s almost impossible for law enforcement to track cryptocurrency sources. There’s no paper trail and all cryptocurrency is secured by complex computer codes.

 

Unless you are on the receiving end of a cryptocurrency transaction, you can’t access the funds nor find out where or who the cryptocurrency came from.

 

Over 75 million people now actively use cryptocurrency to purchase everything from household items to antiques to the latest electronics.

 

Unfortunately, millions of people owning “e-wallets” are also Dark Web criminals looking to make money from your personal information.

 

Doing everything you can to prevent your personal information from being hacked and sold by bad actors on the Dark Web starts with contacting us today for a free consultation.

 

Afterward, our team of experienced information removal technicians will start evaluating your digital footprint to determine if any of your data has made it to the Dark Web.

 

Most clients are amazed and a little frightened to learn that their bank account numbers, email addresses and, in some cases, their social security numbers are for sale on the Dark Web.

 

Call (844)-445-6096 or Chat Live Now to get started on removing your information from the Dark Web.

 

Don’t wait until you receive an email alert from your bank or credit card company warning of a possible identity theft devastating your life.

Catch up on more news from RPI!

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