Austrian Assistance:

373,000 Darknet Sites Shut Down, Perpetrator on the Run

Lock screen instead of child abuse: A global manhunt is underway for the Chinese ringleader.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Generalstaatsanwaltschaft Bamberg)

Those looking to buy illegal goods usually turn to the darknet for such purchases. Now, authorities in Vienna have tracked down a 35-year-old Chinese man. He collected bitcoins for the alleged sale of child abuse videos and similar content but failed to deliver the goods. Meanwhile, nine Austrian pedophiles have been identified. 

Child abuse, drugs, cloned credit cards, violent videos—on the so-called dark web, nothing is too illegal to profit from. Accordingly, European security authorities are actively cracking down on activities in the internet’s “dark twin.” This includes the Cybercrime Division at the Bavarian State Criminal Police Office (LKA) and the Center for Combating Child Pornography and Sexual Abuse on the Internet (ZKI) at the Bamberg Public Prosecutor’s Office. Since mid-2021, authorities in Bavaria had been monitoring a darknet child abuse platform, the name of which will not be disclosed here. What made this case unique? The investigators received active support from Vienna.

One of the sites that was finally taken offline on March 18.(Bild: Complexity Science Hub)

Complex analyses aided in the prosecution
The Complexity Science Hub (CSH) is housed in the beautiful Palais Rothschild in Vienna’s third district. This is where scientific analyses are conducted with the aim of benefiting society. Since 2022, they have been working with Bavarian authorities to make the analyses usable for law enforcement, explains CSH Research Director Bernhard Haslhofer to the “Krone” during a visit to Metternichgasse. “Those who master the analytical methods and understand how criminal structures operate on the dark web can also dismantle them,” he adds.

 Scientific methods for analyzing cryptocurrency flows have specifically helped identify and shut down over 370,000 sites.

Bild: Complexity Science Hub

That is exactly what happened in Vienna: Although the dark web protects the anonymity of its users and encrypts everything, investigators were still able to trace hundreds of thousands of additional sites back to a single man, starting from a child abuse platform.

The dark web sites are depicted in the form of galaxies. Where there are connections, clusters appear (see in green, red, and purple).(Bild: Complexity Science Hub)

Perpetrator rampaged from 2020 to 2025
On Friday, Bavaria’s Interior and Finance Ministers presented the impressive findings. The staggering number of 373,000 dark web sites—all of which were scams where customers paid but received nothing—could be traced back to a single Chinese man. From February 2020 to July 2025, the perpetrator—who is now being sought worldwide, along with his photo—offered packages containing videos and data in exchange for payments ranging from $20 to $250. Of the approximately 600 users of the child abuse platforms, 440 individuals have already been identified, including a 31-year-old father from Bavaria who attempted to delete all data during a police raid.

The dark web was created as an encrypted network with the support of U.S. agencies to make anonymous communication safer in dictatorships.

„Krone“-Cyberprofi Dr. Cornelius Granig

Bild: krone.tv

This brings another connection to Austria. According to the public prosecutor’s office, nine of the 437 individuals identified are pedophiles from Austria. Authorities declined to disclose whether or where house searches took place. In any case, a global operation targeting users of these platforms took place from March 9 to March 19, resulting in the arrest of numerous individuals. However, the 35-year-old Chinese ringleader is still on the run. On March 18, 105 servers and 373,000 darknet sites were seized and blocked with a splash screen.

Lock screen instead of child abuse: A worldwide manhunt is underway for the Chinese ringleader.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Generalstaatsanwaltschaft Bamberg)

At the Palais Rothschild, officials are pleased with the joint success. The “Krone” was shown a visual representation of the case in the form of galaxies. Each point represents a darknet site, and many are interconnected. The analysis does not focus on just one site or one point, but on the big picture. And after lengthy work, this usually leads to the goal.

20,000 Austrians used the Darknet daily
One question that some readers may ask after reading the above is: What exactly is the darknet? One person who has written a book about the “dark twin” of the internet, titled “Darknet: The World in the Shadow of Computer Crime,” is the “Krone”’s cyber expert, Dr. Cornelius Granig.

It often involves crimes such as extortion, drug and arms trafficking, the distribution of illegal pornographic content, or the sale of sensitive data.

Granig warnt vor den Inhalten im Darknet

Originally created for communication in dictatorships
The security expert describes it as a fairly well-hidden part of the internet that is accessible via a special browser—the so-called Tor browser: “The Darknet was created 25 years ago as an encrypted network with the support of U.S. government agencies to ensure the anonymous communication of civil rights activists in dictatorships,” he explains in an interview with the “Krone,” detailing the motivations that led to the Darknet’s founding.

Surfing the darknet is not legally prohibited in principle.(Bild: TaylerDerden - stock.adobe.com)

By using the Tor browser, which routes data through multiple nodes, it is possible to conceal the user’s identity and location. A large number of people use this method of secure communication to report crimes as whistleblowers—for example, in unstable countries or during major scandals—or to view websites anonymously, including as journalists.

Visiting the dark web is not a crime in itself
Unfortunately, since the dark web’s inception, many criminals have exploited this open and free platform for their illicit activities. These often involve serious crimes such as extortion, drug and arms trafficking, the distribution of illegal pornographic content, or the sale of sensitive data. Incidentally, visiting dark web sites is not a criminal offense in itself, but it is equally not recommended. This is also because malware is just as widespread as fake offers. In Austria, approximately 20,000 people use the dark web every day—worldwide, the figure is around six million.