LexisNexis Risk Solutions says dark web marketplaces are growing, but fraudsters face new hurdles as AI-driven detection improves.
LexisNexis Risk Solutions published findings from a proprietary study of the dark web commissioned in 2025, as part of its report Fraud for Sale: Untangling the Dark Web within the annual Global State of Fraud report.
The study concludes that the dark web enables large-scale criminal activity by making it easier for people with sufficient IT skills to obtain tools and know-how to defraud individuals and businesses.
While regulators and law enforcement act to shut down illicit marketplaces, replacements quickly emerge to meet continued demand.
Dark web fraud-as-a-service (FaaS) marketplaces are expanding, offering services ranging from fraud for beginners tutorials and plug-and-play kits to bank accounts described as ready for identity verification, along with pre-completed checks and login details.
The report also found marketplaces selling established email accounts and devices designed to pass basic fraud checks.
Criminal-on-criminal issues also took place with exit scams, where marketplace administrators abruptly stop trading and abscond with customers’ funds, prompting some FaaS marketplaces to respond by banning sellers and restricting items considered worthless.
LexisNexis Risk Solutions added that social media platforms may increasingly compete with the dark web for illicit commerce as criminals value convenience, with evidence of similar products appearing on mainstream platforms.
Kimberly Sutherland, Global Head of Fraud and Identity, LexisNexis Risk Solutions, said: “Fraudster feedback tells us exactly what interferes most with their criminal exploits to hamper their success: real-time liveness checks, account activity, phone and email analysis, and device fingerprinting, to name a few.”
“The good news is that we are not powerless against cybercriminals. As quickly as they adopt new technology it is increasingly apparent how those same AI innovations can thwart their activities,” Sutherland added.
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