Last Tuesday night, I was up until 3 AM dealing with fraud alerts. Someone had tried charging $4,700 worth of electronics to my credit card from three different online stores. I caught it early, but it left me with one burning question: How the hell did they get my card info?
What started as a simple Google search turned into a weeks-long deep dive that honestly freaked me out. I'm sharing what I learned because I wish someone had told me this stuff years ago.
There's a whole shadow economy where your financial data gets traded like baseball cards. These aren't just sketchy forum posts - they're sophisticated marketplaces with search filters, customer support, and even loyalty programs.
A cybersecurity friend (who asked to remain anonymous for professional reasons) gave me a behind-the-scenes look at screenshots of Briansclub platforms. "Think Amazon, but for stolen financial data," he explained. "Complete with star ratings for sellers and customer reviews."
These markets operate on the dark web - that section of the internet you need special browsers to access. Everything's paid for in cryptocurrency, making the money trail nearly impossible to follow.
So how does your card info end up there? More ways than you'd think:
Those data breaches you hear about on the news? That's the motherlode. When some company's database gets hacked, thousands of card details hit these markets overnight.
I talked to Ryan, who works IT security at a mid-sized retail chain. "Companies often don't even know they've been breached until the cards start showing up for sale," he told me. "By then, it's too late."
But it's not just big hacks. That sketchy website where you bought concert tickets? The waiter who took your card at dinner? The public WiFi at the airport? All potential leakage points.
What surprised me most was how organized these operations are. Cards are categorized by:
Prices vary wildly. A basic card number might go for $5-10, while premium cards with complete identity info ("fullz" in their lingo) can fetch $100+.