The rapper and social media persona Punchmade Dev is maybe greatest identified for his flashy movies singing the praises of a cybercrime life-style. With memorable hits equivalent to “Web Swiping” and “Million Greenback Felony” incomes hundreds of thousands of views, Punchmade has leveraged his appreciable following to hawk tutorials on the best way to commit monetary crimes on-line. However till not too long ago, there wasn’t a lot to assist a conclusion that Punchmade was really doing the cybercrime issues he promotes in his songs.

Photographs from Punchmade Dev’s Twitter/X account present him displaying luggage of money and sporting 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 final summer time for violating the positioning’s guidelines. Punchmade shared on social media that the video’s removing was prompted by YouTube receiving a authorized course of request from legislation enforcement officers.

The 24-year-old rapper instructed reporters he wasn’t instructing folks the best way to conduct wire fraud, however as a substitute informing his followers on the best way to keep away from being victims of wire fraud. Nonetheless, that is troublesome to discern from listening to the track, which sounds very very similar to a step-by-step tutorial on the best way to commit wire fraud.

“Pay attention up, I’m finna present y’all the best way to hit a financial institution,” Wire Fraud Tutorial begins. “Simply listen, it is a fast method to jug in any state. First you wanna get a financial institution log from a trusted web site. Do your analysis as a result of the data should be proper.”

And although we’re speaking about a person who usually seems in movies sporting a half-million {dollars} price of {custom} jewellery draped round his arm and neck (together with the practical diamond-encrusted cost card skimming gadget pictured above), there’s by no means been a lot proof that Punchmade was really concerned in committing cybercrimes himself. Even his most vocal critics acknowledged that the entire persona might simply be savvy advertising.

That modified not too long ago when Punchmade’s varied video and social media accounts started selling a brand new net store that’s promoting stolen cost playing cards and id information, 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 most 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 data 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 consumer is selling punchmade[.]atshop[.]io, which is at present 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. “Should you purchase this merchandise you’ll get my full assist on discord/telegram if there’s a downside!,” the positioning guarantees. Purchases might 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 might be had for $80 in crypto.

WHO IS PUNCHMADE DEV?

Punchmade has common his public persona round a set 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 a minimum of three of those monstrosities: One seems to be a boring outdated diamond and gold coated bitcoin, however the different two necklaces inform us one thing about the place Punchmade is from:

Discover the College of Kentucky emblem, and the Lexington, Ky skyline.

Certainly one of them consists of 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 greatest identified for his inventive methods to make use of expertise, video gaming, and social media to construct a fan base,” the profile continues.

The profile explains that he launched his personal file 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 file: OBN Group LLC, in Lexington, Ky. This November 2021 file features a Certificates of Assumed Title, 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 file: 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 handle obndevpayments@gmail.com. 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 web site at archive.org signifies it as soon as offered Punchmade Dev-branded t-shirts and different merchandise.

Mr. Turner didn’t reply to a number of requests for remark.

Looking out 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, observe and soccer in highschool, however that he step by step turned obsessive about enjoying the online game NBA 2K17 and constructing a following of individuals watching him play the sport competitively on-line.

In accordance with this transient 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 sporting $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.”