Trust in a World of Fraud: How Partnerships Are Built Between Carders, Droppers, and Guarantors (The Paradox of Reliability in the Criminal Sphere)

[Professor]

Introduction: A Foundation of Lies
Carding is an activity based on the systematic violation of the financial system's core principle: trust. The paradox is that for this criminal industry to function successfully, the community itself is forced to create highly reliable trust mechanisms within itself. In an environment where everyone is by definition a fraudster, complex, almost contractual relationships are born, without which neither large-scale operations nor the very existence of the underground are possible. This trust — fragile, expensive, and bloody — becomes both the main asset and the main vulnerability.

Chapter 1: Anatomy of a Deal: Why Trust Is Impossible​

Let's consider a standard operation:

1. The carder has data from the stolen cards.
2. He needs a dropper to receive the goods.
3. They need a guarantor to make the deal go through.

All three parties have good reasons to deceive each other:

• The carder may not pay the dropper after receiving the goods.
• The dropper may disappear with the goods.
• The guarantor may disappear with the money.

In the legal world, these risks are regulated by contracts and courts. Underground, they are replaced by alternative institutions of trust, more rigorous and effective than one might imagine.

Chapter 2: The Guarantor — The Cornerstone of Criminal Escrow​

A guarantor (escrow, middleman, arbitrator) is more than just an intermediary; they are a key institution, replacing the state judicial system and payment gateways. Their role is sacred.

How it works (the "under the guarantor" scheme):

1. The carder and dropper agree on the terms and contact the guarantor.
2. The carder transfers the money for the dropper's work to the guarantor's account (or to a cryptocurrency deposit).
3. The dropper, seeing that the money is “frozen” with a neutral party, does the work – receives and transfers the goods.
4. The carder confirms receipt of the goods.
5. Only after this does the guarantor transfer the money to the dropper, retaining his commission (5-15%).

Sources of the guarantor's authority:

• Financial collateral: To become a guarantor, you must make a large security deposit (sometimes tens of thousands of dollars) into the forum's cashier. In the event of fraud by the guarantor, this deposit goes to the injured party.
• Impeccable reputation (rep): Earned over years of impeccable dealings. Reputation is a digital asset that is worth more than any one-time gain.
• Connections and power: A serious guarantor has "admin protection" (support from forum owners) and, as is often implied, the ability to physically influence scammers.

A guarantor isn't just a person; they're a brand. Their name (or nickname) is a symbol of stability. Their word is law within the framework of a transaction.

Chapter 3: Tools of Trust: From Digital Footprints to Threats​

Trust here is not abstract. It is converted into concrete, verifiable assets.

1. Feedback system (VEU system): After each transaction, parties leave each other feedback (+1 or -1) with comments. The accumulated "pluses" are a visual history of reliability. One "minus" can negate hundreds of pluses.
2. Blacklists: Centralized databases of scammers, where nicknames, writing styles, wallets, and phone numbers are recorded. Being blacklisted means digital death, expulsion from all serious projects.
3. Security measures (OPSEC collateral): When working with a new dropper, the carder may ask them to "tell their story" (biographical details) or even send a photo of their passport (with the numbers obscured). This information isn't used while the deal is going well, but it becomes a "sword of Damocles": in the event of fraud, it can be handed over to law enforcement or made public.
4. Cryptocurrency Smart Contracts: Advanced Level. Funds are locked in a smart contract, which automatically transfers them to the dropper when a condition is met (for example, when the carder enters the cryptographic key to confirm receipt).

Chapter 4: The Psychological Contract: Code of Honor as Business Ethics​

In addition to formal mechanisms, there is an unwritten but ironclad code of business conduct .

• Clear and achievable conditions: The dropper's assignment must be clear and realistic. Don't demand the impossible and then blame them for failure.
• Total honesty in reporting: Droppers are required to immediately report any problems ("the house is on fire," the package was not delivered). Concealing problems is a serious crime.
• Maintaining hierarchy and subordination: A newbie shouldn't argue with a veteran. The guarantor's decision is final.
• Confidentiality: Leaking work chats, nicknames, and methods is a mortal sin punishable by total ostracism.
• "Thou shalt not steal from thy own": This is a fundamental principle. Stealing from a "colleague" is worse than robbing a bank. It undermines the very foundation of community.

Violation of these rules is punished informally but harshly: by trolling, doxing (leak of personal data), physical violence (if the location is known), or deliberate reporting to law enforcement.

Chapter 5: Cracks in the Foundation: Why Does the System Fail?​

Even this well-thought-out system is fragile. It's being destroyed from within:

1. Agents and provocateurs: Infiltrated law enforcement officers or competitors who intentionally execute transactions perfectly to gain trust, and then "drain" the entire network.
2. Greed: The temptation to steal a very large sum can outweigh the fear of losing one's reputation. A "golden strike" often ruins a long-standing reputation.
3. Paranoia: The constant fear of being deceived leads to mistakes. A carder might mistake a dropper for a police officer due to the slightest discrepancy and "burn out" a promising employee.
4. Arrest of a key player: The arrest of a guarantor or top carder who knew everyone and everything can collapse an entire network of trust built over years.

Conclusion: The Irony of the Shadow
A striking irony emerges: in order to systematically deceive the outside world, the carding community is forced to create a hyper-reliable, almost totalitarian system of integrity within itself, more rigid than many legitimate business environments. Their "agreements" work better because they are secured not by the threat of a lawsuit, but by the threat of digital and physical death in the underground.

This paradox demonstrates: trust is a fundamental requirement of any human interaction, even the most vicious. Where there is no trust, there is no scale. But this is also its Achilles' heel: this entire cumbersome machine of trust is built on the sands of anonymity and fear. One high-profile betrayal, one successful strike by law enforcement — and the castle of cards, held together by the guarantor's word, crumbles, only to be rebuilt anew over time, with new names and new myths of "infallibility." In a world without a Supreme Court, every arbitrator is a temporary monarch, whose power rests only on the shared belief in its necessity.