NPR talks to FBI agent Keith Mularski in Pittsburgh to find the “online megamall for stolen credit cards.” To register and get a password, Mularski had to use an an alias to persuade two criminals already on the inside to vouch for his criminality.
To sell credit cards on the site, someone must provide a sample of 50 to each reviewer. In a paradox of this marketplace, to get in, you have to be a verified credit card thief. But in order to do business, you have to show that you can deal honestly. This one seller is rated A++. We have to agree with the terms and conditions — which explicitly bar both journalists and law enforcement officials.