The Growing Black Market for Facebook Groups
The Size of the Black Market for Facebook Groups
The black market for buying and selling Facebook groups exists on a couple of websites which turn up in a Google search, which is unusual, since otherwise there are a lot of cautionary postings in response to questions about how this is illegal. Presumably, there may be other sales sites on the dark web, and it would seem this market is difficult to police, since the buyers and sellers are located in different countries around the world. So it’s like the Wild West out there.
The exact number of individuals affected by the theft of Facebook groups is difficult to ascertain, too. This is primarily due to the varying sizes of groups and the often secretive nature of these thefts. Another difficulty is that large groups with thousands of members can significantly inflate the number of affected individuals. Then, too, group members may not immediately realize that a group has been stolen or compromised.
Identifying the number of sellers of Facebook groups is equally challenging. These operations are typically conducted anonymously and often through encrypted or hidden channels. The number of sellers can fluctuate, with new ones emerging as others are shut down by law enforcement or security measures implemented by social media platforms.