林瑞祥：暗網頭目與IT專家的雙重生活

美國警方在紐約機場逮捕了暗網市場 Incognito 的經營者。林瑞祥以「法老」的化名行事，過著不尋常且異常忙碌的雙重生活。

US police have arrested the operator of the Darknet market Incognito at an airport in New York. The 23-year-old Taiwanese national, operating under the alias “Pharaoh,” had been running the marketplace since the end of 2020, through which drugs worth approximately $100 million had been sold, including hundreds of kilograms of cocaine and methamphetamine.

美國警方在紐約機場逮捕了暗網市場 Incognito 的營運商。這名23歲的台灣人化名“法老王”，自2020年底以來一直經營該市場，透過該市場銷售了價值約1億美元的毒品，其中包括數百公斤可卡因和冰毒。

Despite earning substantial amounts from the Incognito market – six-figure sums per month last year – Rui-Siang continued to work by day as an IT specialist at the Embassy of St. Lucia in Taipei. In this role, he also trained police officers from the Caribbean country on “Cyber Crime and Cryptocurrency.”

儘管去年從 Incognito 市場賺取了大量收入（每月六位數），Rui-Siang 仍然繼續在台北聖盧西亞大使館擔任 IT 專家。在此期間，他還對加勒比海國家的警察進行了「網路犯罪和加密貨幣」的培訓。

During the four-day training, government officials comically mentioned in a retrospective press release, 30 police officers acquired in-depth knowledge about cryptocurrencies and their use on the Darknet. The course leader, Rui-Siang Lin, “leveraged his professional background and qualifications” to enhance the police officers' ability to combat cybercrime.

在為期四天的培訓中，政府官員在回顧性新聞稿中滑稽地提到，30 名警察獲得了有關加密貨幣及其在暗網上的使用的深入知識。課程負責人林瑞祥「利用他的專業背景和資歷」來提高警務人員打擊網路犯罪的能力。

Indeed, Lin, who is evidently highly talented, likely possessed such qualifications. Around the same time, he founded the web service Antinalysis, a tool for on-chain transaction analysis. However, it was explicitly not intended to detect money laundering but rather to help avoid detection.

確實，天賦異稟的林很可能具備這樣的資格。大約在同一時間，他創立了網路服務 Antinaanalysis，這是一種鏈上交易分析工具。然而，它顯然不是為了偵查洗錢活動，而是為了幫助避免被發現。

“Our goal is not to aid the surveillance autocracy of government intelligence agencies,” he wrote as Pharaoh in a Darknet forum. “This service is dedicated to individuals who have a need for complete privacy on a blockchain.”

「我們的目標不是幫助政府情報機構的監視專制，」他以法老的身份在暗網論壇上寫道。 “這項服務專門為需要區塊鏈完全隱私的個人提供。”

This included the users of his marketplace Incognito. Under expert scrutiny, it was known for its high-security standards. Anyone wishing to conduct transactions had to complete an OPSEC quiz (“Operational Security”) and demonstrate proficiency with the encryption protocol PGP. Payments were allowed in Bitcoin and Monero, the user interface was clear, and only drugs were traded, excluding the notorious fentanyl.

這包括他的市場 Incognito 的用戶。在專家的審查下，它以其高安全標準而聞名。任何想要進行交易的人都必須完成 OPSEC 測驗（「操作安全」）並證明其對加密協議 PGP 的熟練程度。允許使用比特幣和門羅幣付款，用戶介面清晰，只交易毒品，不包括臭名昭著的芬太尼。

In the summer of 2023, Incognito became increasingly popular, with trading volume reaching five million dollars per month. However, in March this year, Rui-Siang shut down the site.

2023 年夏天，Incognito 越來越受歡迎，每月交易量達到 500 萬美元。然而，今年3月，瑞祥關閉了該網站。

The Taiwanese did not settle for the classic exit scam of taking the Bitcoin and Monero from the platform. He went a step further, blackmailing users by claiming he had stored their messages and transactions. Those who did not “unlock” themselves by the end for a fee of $20,000 would have their information leaked online.

台灣人並沒有滿足於從平台上拿走比特幣和門羅幣的經典退出騙局。他更進一步，聲稱他儲存了用戶的消息和交易，以此勒索用戶。那些最終沒有支付 2 萬美元「解鎖」自己的人，他們的資訊就會在網路上洩露。

“YES, THIS IS EXTORTION!!!“

“是的，這是勒索！！！”

Rui-Siang evidently attempted to cash out before exiting the Darknet entirely to focus on his legitimate career with well-filled wallets. Just a week before his arrest, he boasted on LinkedIn about receiving certification for Reactor Analysis from the blockchain analyst firm Chainalysis.

瑞祥顯然試圖在完全退出暗網之前套現，以專注於他錢包充裕的合法職業。就在被捕前一周，他在 LinkedIn 上吹噓自己獲得了區塊鏈分析公司 Chainaanalysis 的 Reactor Analysis 認證。

Despite all his efforts, Lin failed to maintain his anonymity. Perhaps his double life became too demanding, or it was the hubris of a brilliant mind – by the time he started blackmailing his former users and taking courses at Chainalysis, the noose around his neck had already tightened.

儘管林先生做出了種種努力，但他還是未能保持匿名。也許他的雙重生活變得要求太高，或者這是一個聰明頭腦的傲慢——當他開始勒索他的前用戶並參加 Chainaanalysis 的課程時，他脖子上的絞索已經收緊了。

The FBI had gained access to one of the Incognito servers in January, discovering a Bitcoin wallet Lin had used – unbelievably – to purchase four additional domains via Namecheap, registered under his real name.

聯邦調查局 (FBI) 在 1 月訪問了其中一個隱身伺服器，令人難以置信的是，他發現林使用了一個比特幣錢包，透過 Namecheap 購買了另外四個域名，並以他的真實姓名註冊。

The Taiwanese did attempt to swap his Bitcoins for Monero, but due to the timing and amount, the FBI could track the transactions to an exchange. There, Lin had an account under his real name. His balance there had grown to about five million dollars over the course of 2023.

台灣人確實嘗試將他的比特幣換成門羅幣，但由於時間和金額，聯邦調查局可以追蹤交易到交易所。在那裡，林有一個真實姓名的帳戶。 2023 年，他的餘額已增加至約 500 萬美元。

Now, he faces a potential life sentence for various drug and cybercrime-related offenses.

現在，他可能因各種毒品和網路犯罪相關罪行而面臨無期徒刑。