The rapper and social media persona Punchmade Dev is maybe finest identified for his flashy movies singing the praises of a cybercrime way of life. With memorable hits reminiscent of “Web Swiping” and “Million Greenback Legal” incomes hundreds of thousands of views, Punchmade has leveraged his appreciable following to hawk tutorials on find out how to commit monetary crimes on-line. However till just lately, there wasn’t a lot to assist a conclusion that Punchmade was truly doing the cybercrime issues he promotes in his songs.
Photos from Punchmade Dev’s Twitter/X account present him displaying luggage of money and carrying a practical diamond-crusted cost card skimmer.
Punchmade Dev’s most controversial combine — a rap referred to as “Wire Fraud Tutorial” — was taken down by Youtube last summer for violating the location’s guidelines. Punchmade shared on social media that the video’s removing was prompted by YouTube receiving a authorized course of request from regulation enforcement officers.
The 24-year-old rapper informed reporters he wasn’t instructing folks find out how to conduct wire fraud, however as an alternative informing his followers on find out how to keep away from being victims of wire fraud. Nonetheless, that is troublesome to discern from listening to the tune, which sounds very very similar to a step-by-step tutorial on find out how to commit wire fraud.
“Pay attention up, I’m finna present y’all find out how to hit a financial institution,” Wire Fraud Tutorial begins. “Simply listen, this can be a fast solution to jug in any state. First you wanna get a financial institution log from a trusted website. Do your analysis as a result of the data should be proper.”
And although we’re speaking about a person who commonly seems in movies carrying a half-million {dollars} value of {custom} jewellery draped round his arm and neck (together with the practical diamond-encrusted cost card skimming machine pictured above), there’s by no means been a lot proof that Punchmade was truly concerned in committing cybercrimes himself. Even his most vocal critics acknowledged that the entire persona might simply be savvy advertising and marketing.
That modified just lately when Punchmade’s numerous video and social media accounts started selling a brand new internet store that’s promoting stolen cost playing cards and id knowledge, in addition to hacked monetary accounts and software program for producing counterfeit checks.
Punchmade Dev’s store.
The official Punchmadedev account on Instagram hyperlinks to lots of the aforementioned rap movies and tutorials on cybercriming, in addition to to Punchmadedev’s different profiles and web sites. Amongst them is mainpage[.]me/punchmade, which incorporates the next info for “Punchmade Empire ®”
-212,961 subscribers
#1 supply on Telegram
Contact: @whopunchmade
24/7 store: https://punchmade[.]atshop[.]io
Visiting that @whopunchmade Telegram channel reveals this person is selling punchmade[.]atshop[.]io, which is presently promoting hacked financial institution accounts and cost playing cards with excessive balances.
Clicking “buy” on the C@sh App providing, for instance, reveals that for $80 the customer will obtain logins to Money App accounts with balances between $3,000 and $5,000. “When you purchase this merchandise you’ll get my full assist on discord/telegram if there’s a downside!,” the location guarantees. Purchases may be made in cryptocurrencies, and trying out prompts one to proceed cost at Coinbase.com.
One other merchandise on the market, “Fullz + Linkable CC,” guarantees “ID Entrance + Again, SSN with 700+ Credit score Rating, and Linkable CC” or bank card. That additionally may be had for $80 in crypto.
WHO IS PUNCHMADE DEV?
Punchmade has long-established his public persona round a group of custom-made, diamond-covered necklaces which can be as outlandish and gaudy as they’re revelatory. My favourite shot from one in every of Punchmade’s movies options not less than three of those monstrosities: One seems to be a boring outdated diamond and gold lined bitcoin, however the different two necklaces inform us one thing about the place Punchmade is from:
Discover the College of Kentucky brand, and the Lexington, Ky skyline.
Certainly one of them contains the emblem and mascot of the College of Kentucky. The opposite, an infinite diamond studded skyline, seems to have been designed primarily based on the skyline in Lexington, Ky:
The “About” web page on Punchmade Dev’s Spotify profile describes him as “an American artist, rapper, musician, producer, director, entrepreneur, actor and investor.” “Punchmade Dev is finest identified for his inventive methods to make use of know-how, video gaming, and social media to construct a fan base,” the profile continues.
The profile explains that he launched his personal document label in 2021 referred to as Punchmade Data, the place he produces his personal instrumentals and edits his personal music movies.
A search on corporations that embody the title “punchmade” on the web site of the Kentucky Secretary of State brings up only one document: OBN Group LLC, in Lexington, Ky. This November 2021 document features a Certificates of Assumed Identify, which reveals that Punchmade LLC is the assumed title of OBN Group LLC.
The president of OBN Group LLC is listed as Devon Turner. A search on the Secretary of State web site for different companies tied to Devon Turner reveals only one different document: A now-defunct entity referred to as DevTakeFlightBeats Inc.
The breach monitoring service Constella Intelligence finds that Devon Turner from Lexington, Ky. used the e-mail tackle [email protected]. A lookup on this e mail at DomainTools.com reveals it was used to register the area foreverpunchmade[.]com, which is registered to a Devon Turner in Lexington, Ky. A duplicate of this website at archive.org signifies it as soon as offered Punchmade Dev-branded t-shirts and other merchandise.
Mr. Turner didn’t reply to a number of requests for remark.
Looking on-line for Devon Turner and “Punchmade” brings up a video from @brainjuiceofficial, a YouTube channel that focuses on social media celebrities. @Brainjuiceofficial says Turner was born in October 2000, the oldest baby of a single mom of 5 whose husband was not within the image.
Devon Turner, a.ok.a. “Punchmade Dev,” in an undated photograph.
The video says the six-foot 5 Turner performed basketball, monitor and soccer in highschool, however that he step by step grew to become obsessive about enjoying the online game NBA 2K17 and constructing a following of individuals watching him play the sport competitively on-line.
In response to this temporary documentary, Turner beforehand streamed his NBA 2K17 movies on a YouTube channel referred to as DevTakeFlight, though he initially glided by the nickname OBN Dev.
“Issues could ultimately catch as much as Devon if he isn’t cautious,” @Brainjuiceofficial noticed, noting that Turner has been shot at earlier than, and in addition robbed at an ATM whereas flexing a bunch of money for an image and carrying $500k in jewellery. “Though you may have lots of people which can be into what you do, there are lots of people ready so that you can slip up.”
