The FBI thread: Ive attached links where diagrams are provided throughout this 🧵.

First, a little background on my team. We started working together back in the days of P2P apps like Kazaa, BearShare, iMesh, etc. Back in those days, you could actually see who's IP address you were connecting too. And there was porn. Everywhere.

https://twitter.com/MuricanVeteran/status/1785687453652979894?

We individually started noticing that this included CP. So we posted on Exploit.in (a hacking forum we were all members of) and asking what we could do to help catch these people. This was how we formed our team. Slowly we began to learn how to hack people.

https://twitter.com/MuricanVeteran/status/1785687457796857892?

We started off running scripts that other people created to kick them offline. It was hit or miss. But eventually we started writing our own scripts. Then we started tracking them back to their homes by their IP addresses. But what could we do with this information?

https://twitter.com/MuricanVeteran/status/1785687461152301156?

We caught people from all over the country AND the world. We couldn't possible go after them all individually. So, we decided we would compile lists of these people, their IP addresses, times/dates of when they uploaded this content, and report it to the Feds.

While doing this, we noticed an onion link that was being shared in the zip files of CP. An onion link is basically a link to darkweb-site. When we first checked it out, it looked harmless and we overlooked it in our work. But one of the guys was convinced there was more there.

Turns out he was right. This site was basically a CP Amazon. You could go there and "order" CP, for a price. Not only that, some of it included torture in the descriptions. At this point, we knew we had to get the Feds involved. So we did.

We called the FBI and emailed them numerous anonymous tips. Over and over again, with no response. We wondered wtf was going on. We didn't want to expose our identities and go to a local office as we wanted to remain anonymous.

So we started doing the next best thing, and contacted local law enforcement close to where these people lived. This was also shaky at best. Cops want witnesses to crimes. To be a witness, means you cannot remain anonymous. So the struggle continued.

Then one of us was watching "to catch a Predator" and it dawned on us, the media! We could use them to be the "witness"! They could "break" the story with our information, confront them, and have them arrested! Perfect! All bases covered! That's how we started.

What does this have to do with the FBI? Well, after all the times we contacted them and got no response, we started wondering about "honey pots". We knew they existed and we wondered if the FBI was possibly running CP honey pots.

Years go by and we find a new place they are selling CP. We started researching this site and it's user base. Upon doing so, we found some rather fishy IP activity. Quantico Virginia. Wait, wtf?

I'm gonna tell you what we saw, and then I'm going to tell you the "official" version of the story. You can decide on your own, what you believe. First, you need to understand some things about TOR. TOR is the "darkweb". It's not the same as the clear web.

Sorry this🧵 is quite long so those who wish to continue reading from this point can click on this link.

https://twitter.com/MuricanVeteran/status/1785687487349956620?

Link to full 🧵 can be found at this link.

https://twitter.com/MuricanVeteran/status/1785687449383162088?