BrianKrebs

New, from me: Pakistani Firm Shipped Fentanyl Analogs, Scams to US

A Texas firm recently charged with conspiring to distribute synthetic opioids in the United States is at the center of a vast network of companies in the U.S. and Pakistan whose employees are accused of using online ads to scam westerners seeking help with trademarks, book writing, mobile app development and logo designs, a new investigation reveals.

This story was quite a lot of work, and I really hope some good can come of it. The scale of this operation is something to behold:

https://krebsonsecurity.com/2025/05/pakistani-firm-shipped-fentanyl-analogs-scams-to-us/

Pakistani Firm Shipped Fentanyl Analogs, Scams to US – Krebs on Security

May 8, 2025 at 12:03amWeb
Show threadBrianKrebsMay 15, 2025
Weirdly, this story appears to now be buried in Google. If you search on the headline in Google (Pakistani Firm Shipped Fentanyl Analogs, Scams to US) you will see tons of places linking to my story, and you will see tags from the story. I don't see this behavior for any other story of mine on the homepage of KrebsOnSecurity.com now. But the story itself is basically gone from Google's search results. Gee, I wonder how that happened?
Show threadquixoteMay 15, 2025
@briankrebs Eeenteresting!
Show threadṫẎℭỚ◎ᾔ ṫ◎ℳMay 15, 2025
@briankrebs wtf! 😳 wow 🤯
Show threadjamesb2147May 15, 2025

@briankrebs are you suggesting they sent fake takedowns to Google or something..?

Pardon my ignorance, but I really don't know how to anti-SEO/sink a specific webpage.

Show thread2xfoMay 15, 2025
@jamesb2147 @briankrebs
I think it might be because the people he's investigating here have spent over $100,000,000 on Google ads so far
Show threadjamesb2147May 15, 2025
@RnDanger @briankrebs wonder what the ROI is on that investment...
Show threadBrianKrebsMay 15, 2025
@jamesb2147 The people I wrote about in that story have spent tens of millions of dollars running ads on Google. Something tells me they've learned a few dark SEO tricks during that time.
Show threadAlynMay 15, 2025
@briankrebs Yup. I stuck it into my SearxNG server and while Yahoo, Bing, Mojeek, DDG and Brave have your site listed first, Google, Startpage, and Mullvad don't list it on the first or second page of results at all.
Show threadRDillingMay 15, 2025

@briankrebs I spun up 2 disposable virtual machines with zero history. One running fedora with a US IP and one running whonix with a Nederland IP.

And searched for Pakistani fentanyl using Google search

On the US machine, I couldn’t find the link at all. Although the Linked-In post about it showed up in the top 8 results

On the Whonix machine your article was the top result, at first. Then the top result was a link what appears to be your article at cybersecurity [dot] fullcoll [dot] edu. But the link does not resolve. And, I can’t find the link to your article any longer.

Show threadSiffMay 16, 2025

@briankrebs In Canada, on Google, your LinkedIn post is #1; the post on your site is the first one on page 2.

On DuckDuckGo, the post on your site is #1.

Show threadVolvodadfastMay 17, 2025
@briankrebs your story is at top on Qwant search for "Pakistani fentanyl".
Show threadjjesseMay 8, 2025
@briankrebs I really enjoyed the article, thank you for all the research.
Show threadFeloniousPunkMay 8, 2025
@briankrebs Wow, I got caught up with these guys a couple years ago with trademark registration. They impersonated USPTO attorneys, forged documents, the works. I did get a refund from my credit card company, thankfully. These bastards deserve everything coming to them.
Show thread⚯ Michel de Cryptadamus ⚯May 8, 2025
@briankrebs there's a good episode of Darknet Diaries about #Axact
Show threadIvor HewittMay 8, 2025
@cryptadamist @briankrebs
@jackrhysider
Darknet Diaries: 142: Axact
https://darknetdiaries.com/episode/142
👍
Axact – Darknet Diaries

Axact sells fake diplomas and degrees. What could go wrong with this business plan?

Show threadAngela ScholderMay 8, 2025
@briankrebs Wow! That is a big one.
And clearly we have a Crypto scammer in one of the reactions...
Show threadBenjamin Sonntag-KingMay 8, 2025
@AngelaScholder @briankrebs
They will disappear in 5...4...3... 
Show threadAngela ScholderMay 8, 2025

@benjamin @briankrebs Gone. I had repoorted the scammer with at least 6 or 7 the same comments in as many places.

Hopefully on Mastodon we also have a very much lower percentage of people who fall for these scams.

Show threadSlash909ukMay 8, 2025
@AngelaScholder @briankrebs scammer reported 👍
Show threadP SegalMay 8, 2025
@Undefined Excellent work!
Show threadNegahyphenMay 8, 2025
@briankrebs I'm surprised they didn't just rip off Entertainment 720 for a name as well.
Show threadṫẎℭỚ◎ᾔ ṫ◎ℳMay 8, 2025
@briankrebs Pakistan = #SCAM In #dubai Pakistan scams everywhere.
Show threadlemgandiMay 15, 2025
@briankrebs Shrug. First result on duckduckgo.
Show threadloucoveyMay 17, 2025
@briankrebs I got 3 calls from this group wanting to publish a book I wrote 5 years ago. Kept telling them no until I blocked their phone number
Show threadFrank JMay 21, 2025
@briankrebs that looks similar to the Miami office they have