Carding-as-a-Service (CaaS) 2.0: Market consolidation and the emergence of "shadow corporations" with guarantees and technical support

[Professor]

Introduction: From Anarchy to Vertical Integration​

By 2026, the underground carding market had completed its evolution from chaotic forums and scattered stores to a mature, consolidated industry. The Carding-as-a-Service (CaaS) model, which began as a set of one-time services, has transformed into CaaS 2.0 — an ecosystem of vertically integrated "shadow corporations" offering comprehensive solutions with guarantees, SLAs (Service Level Agreements), and 24/7 technical support. This is no longer a crime in the classic sense, but a highly organized shadow business built on market principles and customer focus.

Part 1: The Shadow Corporation CaaS 2.0 Architecture​

A modern CaaS platform functions like a legitimate IT startup, but with a criminal twist. Its structure includes:

1. Management and Strategy (Shadow C-Level):
   • CEO/Strategist: Identifies market niches and is responsible for partnerships with other criminal groups (e.g., malware distributors).
   • CRO (Chief Risk Officer): Manages operational risks, monitors the integrity of drop networks, and evaluates the reliability of partners.
   • CFO (Cryptocurrency Finance Officer): Manages cryptocurrency treasury and is responsible for laundering proceeds through DeFi protocols and legitimate businesses.
2. Core Service Stack:
   • Logistics module (Drop-as-a-Service): A global, anonymous dropshipping network with an automated order distribution system, cargo insurance (if the goods are intercepted, the client receives a refund of the cryptocurrency), and a multi-tiered reshipment system.
   • Data & Access Hub: Not just selling CVVs or card clones. We sell ready-made, verified, and "warm" bank or marketplace accounts with a user history, linked cards, and a high credit limit.
   • Operations Center: Conducts turnkey targeted operations, from victim selection and social engineering to cash withdrawal and delivery of physical goods. The client simply sets the task and pays for the successful outcome.
   • Bypass Lab: Continuously develops and tests methods for bypassing new biometric authentication systems, banking behavioral analysis, and EDR systems.
3. Support and guarantees (Trust & Safety):
   • 24/7 technical support: Chat with a live specialist (often with Russian-speaking support) to help resolve issues with software, generating deepfakes for verification, or tracking packages.
   • Warranty Fund: Refund or replacement if purchased access/data is not working, the product is not delivered, or the account is blocked within the warranty period (usually 24-72 hours).
   • Reputation and review system: Open ratings of data providers and performers within the ecosystem, secured by blockchain smart contracts. A poor rating leads to exclusion from the platform.

Part 2: Key Differences between CaaS 2.0 and Classic Carding​

• Dematerialization of risk for the client: A novice carder ("loser") doesn't need to understand fintech vulnerabilities, look for drops, or fear being scammed. They buy the result. The corporation assumes all the complex risk.
• Focus on B2B and affiliate programs: The main growth comes from affiliate programs for other criminal groups. For example, a group specializing in ransomware becomes an affiliate: they infect corporate networks, and the CaaS 2.0 platform provides them with tools for instant monetization through carding, taking a commission.
• Implementing blockchain for trust management: Internal settlements, escrow accounts, reputation, and even access control to instruments are built on private blockchains or zero-knowledge implementations (ZK-proofs). This eliminates internal fraud and ensures transparency while maintaining anonymity.
• Subscription Model: Monthly subscriptions are introduced for access to premium features such as fresh real-time databases, exclusive bypass methods, priority support, and transaction insurance.

Part 3: Economic Model and Competition​

The CaaS 2.0 market is experiencing a wave of mergers and acquisitions.

1. Monetization:Income is generated through:
   • Commissions on successful transactions (30-50%).
   • Subscription fees.
   • Sales of proprietary data and tools.
   • Investing in legal crypto businesses with laundered funds.
2. The fight for the "client":Competition leads to a "functionality war":
   • Implementation of AI assistants that suggest optimal fraudulent schemes for a specific victim.
   • Guaranteeing cybersecurity for carders themselves: Providing clients with secure work environments (anonymous remote desktops with pre-installed tools) and insurance against legal risks (informal "lawyer support" schemes).
3. Rebranding and "corporate culture": Successful platforms develop recognizable "brands" on the darknet, slogans, and corporate ethics (for example, prohibiting attacks on hospitals or individuals below a certain income — not out of compassion, but to minimize the attention of law enforcement).

Part 4: Challenges for Law Enforcement and Security​

The new model makes the fight against carding incredibly difficult.

1. Decentralization vs. Centralization: Although the "corporation" core is centralized, its executors and drop networks are distributed worldwide and connected only technologically. A blow to a single node does not collapse the system.
2. Legitimization through technology: The use of standard IT practices (Agile, DevOps, tech support) and cryptography makes operations outwardly indistinguishable from a legitimate IT company, making detection more difficult.
3. The client as a shield: Law enforcement, when approaching a low-level contractor or service buyer, runs into a complex chain of intermediaries and encryption, unable to reach the C-Level of a shadow corporation.
4. Economic Pressure: The high efficiency of CaaS 2.0 forces legitimate companies and banks to invest colossal sums in protection, which, in turn, funds further research and development in the criminal sector, creating a vicious cycle.

Conclusion: The shadow economy as a reflection of the legal one​

CaaS 2.0 isn't a criminal curiosity. It's a logical reflection of modern economic trends (servitization, subscription, customer-centricity, ecosystem-based) reflected in the shadow market.

It demonstrates that criminal innovation has reached such a level of maturity that it's beginning to replicate not only the technologies but also the management and business models of the legal world. This makes it simultaneously more efficient, more resilient, and more dangerous.

Combating this phenomenon requires an appropriate response:

• Shifting focus from capturing perpetrators to investigating the business processes of shadow corporations.
• Development of cyber intelligence aimed at analyzing their economic flows and chains of command.
• Preventative measures in the form of introducing levels of security and convenience into legal fintech that will make CaaS 2.0 services economically unviable for the mass "consumer."

The shadowy corporations of CaaS 2.0 will win if they are fought like gangs. And they will lose if they are confronted on the battlefield where they excel: in economic analysis, risk management, and technological superiority. The race has shifted from "hacker vs. bank" to "criminal holding company vs. global financial security system." The outcome of this race will determine who will dictate the terms of the payments market for the next decade.