[2603.01624] Assessing Crime Disclosure Patterns in a Large-Scale Cybercrime Forum

Computer Science > Computers and Society arXiv:2603.01624 (cs) [Submitted on 2 Mar 2026] Title:Assessing Crime Disclosure Patterns in a Large-Scale Cybercrime Forum Authors:Raphael Hoheisel, Tom Meurs, Jai Wientjes, Marianne Junger, Abhishta Abhishta, Masarah Paquet-Clouston View a PDF of the paper titled Assessing Crime Disclosure Patterns in a Large-Scale Cybercrime Forum, by Raphael Hoheisel and 5 other authors View PDF HTML (experimental) Abstract:Cybercrime forums play a central role in the cybercrime ecosystem, serving as hubs for the exchange of illicit goods, services, and knowledge. Previous studies have explored the market and social structures of these forums, but less is known about the behavioral dynamics of users, particularly regarding participants' disclosure of criminal activity. This study provides the first large-scale assessment of crime disclosure patterns in a major cybercrime forum, analysing over 3.5 million posts from nearly 300k users. Using a three-level classification scheme (benign, grey, and crime) and a scalable labelling pipeline powered by large language models (LLMs), we measure the level of crime disclosure present in initial posts, analyse how participants switch between levels, and assess how crime disclosure behavior relates to private communications. Our results show that crime disclosure is relatively normative: one quarter of initial posts include explicit crime-related content, and more than one third of users disclose criminal act...