Featured Image Credit: Bill Hinton/Contributor / NurPhoto/Contributor / Getty
There's a whole different side to the World Wide Web, and although Google might claim going Incognito keeps you away from prying eyes, your digital footprint is still everywhere.
Sure, Incognito might keep your search for that perfect birthday gift a secret, but it's not as covert as you'd think.
This is where the dark web comes in, the sometimes seedy sister to the standard internet where anything goes.
Although accessing the dark web isn't illegal, its connections to criminal activity means it's a hotbed for the FBI to scoop up someone breaking the law.
You might think it's easy to evade the FBI on the dark web, but as one fascinating animation shows, the Feds are always one step ahead.
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YouTube account The Infographics Show reveals how using a VPN to mask your IP address isn't the foolproof method it's prescribed as.
For starters, there's the story of cybercriminal Eric Eoin Marques and how his Freedom Hosting cloud computing company was thought to be responsible for around half of the websites on the dark web.
Freedom Hosting was supposed to be under an impenetrable Tor network, but as authorities tracked him down to Ireland and he's currently serving a 27-year prison sentence, that's clearly not the case.
A new code apparently exploited a Firefox vulnerability and exposed thousands of IP addresses for those using the dark web, but having hackers create codes for the FBI isn't the only way you can get caught.
Cops will regularly go undercover, with The Infographics Show using the example of someone buying MDMA from the dark web. You often don't know who you're talking to online anyway, and it's easy for an undercover cop to catch someone buying illicit substances - although entrapment stops them from overselling illegal goods.
'Honey pot' sting traps are just one problem, with a lot of dark web contraband being seized before it even arrives on someone's doorstep. The postal service can serve as a go-between for the cops to track down sellers or use a 'controlled delivery' to swoop in on buyers.
Having your details splashed over an FBI Most Wanted list can sometimes be an accident, and in one case where a kid selling drugs from Germany was arrested in 2015, the details of his customer database were also seized by the authorities. Perhaps the wildest way of being caught is those who use the normal web to advertize their dark web websites.
Come on, do you really think the Feds won't see that?
The video adds that even if the FBI hasn't come knocking at your door, your details might've been flagged in a database.
Even though the FBI and other law enforcement authorities won't reveal their exact methods for finding criminals on the dark web, it's obvious users aren't as anonymous as they think.
At least the video explains that the dark web isn't just for illicit activities, with the likes of investigative journalists and political dissidents using it to bust open unfair regimes.
Still, chances are if you're on the dark web and thinking of doing something illegal, just know that Big Brother is always watching.
