altenens.is review
Altenen.is Site Review
In June 2020, the administrator of the English-language cybercriminal carding forum Altenen announced a “big victory” for the site in terms of its website traffic rank statistics.
New Digital Shadows research provides a breakdown of these metrics and how they square up against those of other top cybercriminal forums.
Forums gain credibility and popularity by offering high-quality content and attracting skilled threat actors. But website traffic numbers and forum statistics are subjective, so it’s worth monitoring them carefully.
1. Trust and Safety
Altenen is a cybercriminal forum with an extensive user base. It primarily attracts users from Algeria, and is known in the hacking community as one of the largest carding forums.
Despite being a carding forum, there are several threads on the site that have been linked to phishing and scamming. This has led to a number of warnings from the moderators and members about malicious activities.
Some of these are quite serious. In some cases, the phishing and scamming activities have included the use of bogus escrow schemes and crypto stealing malware.
Trust and Safety is a term that encompasses a range of practices that ensure platforms are safe for users. These practices can include creating community guidelines, enforcing violation consequences, and using moderation software.
Whether it’s a social media platform or a marketplace that allows people to trade goods and services, Trust & Safety teams are responsible for creating policies that ensure the safety of their audience. They also work to provide a direct line of communication with users who have questions or concerns about T&S practices.
2. Reputation
Originally an Arabic-language forum, Altenen changed its premise in 2013 and now mainly concerns itself with making money on the internet by means of various earning schemes.
New Digital Shadows research finds that a couple of administrators at Altenen abused their position to scam users in exchange for personal gain. They took advantage of the forum’s escrow process, which only allowed payments to be processed once certain conditions had been met.
From this, the crooks were able to obtain credit card details from several people for their own use. After obtaining the stolen cards, they then traded them in for goods.
Despite its reputation as an English-language cybercriminal carding forum, traffic data shows that most of the site’s visitors come from Egypt and Algeria, with Morocco also being a popular visitor region. This may suggest that the crooks are targeting the forum’s predominantly Arab-speaking audience. It also indicates that a growing number of users have fallen victim to the forum’s fraudulent scheme.
4. Support
Altens is a large industrial estate, located next to the main city centre of Aberdeen. It is home to several companies including Grampian Continental and RTH Lubbers UK. It is also the site of one of North East Scotland College’s campuses. The friendly reception staff at NESCol’s Aberdeen Altens Campus can help with all your queries and questions. The Student Advice Centre is also on-site at Altens, situated inside M Block. This is your first point of contact for all course information, advice and support during your time at NESCol. It is open Monday to Friday, 8.30am – 5.30pm. You can also get in touch with them on Twitter and Facebook.
