The New York prosecutor’s office has charged local resident Yue Zhou with murder, for which she found a killer on the darknet, offering him cryptocurrency and sexual services in exchange. Fortunately, the murder did not take place.

Yue Zhou, 42, will be arraigned in federal court in Brooklyn, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Zhou was arrested in Virginia on June 5, 2024, and transferred to New York on July 3. Magistrate Judge Robert Levy will preside over the trial.

The investigation revealed that between March 25 and April 4, 2019, Zhou attempted to hire a hitman via the darknet to kill her ex-partner’s wife. The attacker transferred $5,000 in bitcoins to the hitman via a Ukrainian exchange service.

Zhou provided the killer with detailed information about the intended victim’s daily routine. The woman later tried to arrange the murder of her ex-partner’s adult daughter, offering $10,000 and sexual favors in exchange.

“The perpetrator was unaware that the darknet platform she used to hire the killer was a fake. The defendant took decisive action to commit ruthless murders and her vicious plan was foiled only because the website turned out to be fake,” the prosecutor’s office said.

Several years ago, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), with the help of the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, identified a criminal who paid a hitman in bitcoins to kill his wife. The crime was also prevented.