Looks like you're going to have to find a new venue to buy and sell illegal drugs and guns for cryptocurrency. The popular dark web Marketplace AlphaBay has been down for days now and doesn't appear to be coming back anytime soon.
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As many users have been complaining for days on social media and community forums that their funded wallets at AlphaBay are inaccessible and their money apparently lost, the operators now issued a short response. They say that the site will be back online soon and they are working to restore AlphaBay servers as soon as possible.
While many users want to believe this is true, pointing out the fact that AlphaBay has been down before for considerable periods of time, evidence suggest otherwise. As can be seen with any Bitcoin Blockchain explorer, funds are being cleaned out from the site's accounts. Just one of the wallet address associated with AlphaBay has withdrawn 1,479 BTC worth about ($4 million).
This has led to most people online calling AlphaBay an exit scam and suggesting that people forget about ever seeing their funds again.
An exit scam refers to when an operator establishes an operation with the intention of disappearing and stealing all the funds that it holds. Usually, the operators claim that they were hacked and that the money was stolen from them.
The field is full of similar examples, as users who buy illegal products can't turn to the police for help.