Dread is a dark web forum that was born out of Reddit’s clampdown on discussions around dark web markets and scamming techniques.

Almost since its inception it has been plagued by denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks that have at times left it virtually unusable. According to chief administrator HugBunter, the downtime is the result of a persistent adversary targeting the hidden service with the objective of extorting dark web markets that use Dread to communicate with their users. This downtime has led many users to migrate to Dread’s I2P mirror to access the dark web forum.

Nevertheless, it remains a popular hub for dark web netizens involved in the market scene, as well as those interested in broader cybercrime. Conversations on Dread are mainly focused on market and vendor reviews (with many dark web users relying on Dread as a source of information) but it also has popular subs on fraud techniques such as carding, hacking, and cybercrime job recruitment.