😈 The Dark Side of Emojis: ☠️ Exploring Emoji Use in Illicit and Underground Activities 😈

July 17, 2024

Did you know that there are 3,664 emojis available in the United States alone? Emojis, the small digital icons used to express emotions, ideas, or objects, continue to be an integral part of modern digital communication. And while their innocuous appearance is often benign, there continues to be a growing body of evidence that bellies a darker side. A darker side that supports illicit and underground activities. Criminals continue to exploit emojis to communicate covertly, conducting illegal transactions and targeting innocent victims all while evading law enforcement and text-based detection systems.

To celebrate World Emoji Day, this blog highlights some of the emojis used in illicit and underground activities. We will dive into how emojis are evading law enforcement and text-based detection systems. This is by no means an exhaustive list of contributing factors but merely an analysis of common overlapping gaps.

How Emojis Evade Law Enforcement

Visual Representation

Most traditional detection methods rely heavily on textual analysis which often fails to account for accurately interpreting the context and meaning of emojis in various communication channels. Emojis are graphical symbols and therefore can be bypassed by filters and detection. Technology may be able to flag emoji use but ultimately requires an analyst to infer the meaning.

Ambiguity and Contextual Meaning

Emojis have multiple meanings beyond what was intended, or how they are labelled, and their use can be very subjective. This ambiguity makes it difficult for law enforcement professionals and detection systems to discern whether an emoji is being used as intended or with malicious meaning.

Text Combination

Emojis can often be used in combination with text to create coded messages. The combination makes it difficult for law enforcement professionals and detection systems to infer meaning, contributing to a critical gap between detection and prevention.

Evolution, Adaptation, and Variations

Emojis are constantly being evolved and adapted to stay ahead of law enforcement and detection systems. As law enforcement and detection strategies are being developed, illicit emoji users are capitalizing on the gap by adapting and creating new variations.

How Emojis are Used for Criminal Activity

Drug Trafficking Emojis 🍁

Emojis play a significant role in drug trafficking. They enable buyers and sellers to communicate discreetly and covertly across the surface, deep and dark web. Common drug emojis include symbols like the pill 💊, maple leaf, 🍁 and crystal ball 🔮 emojis to represent various types of drugs.

A standardized contextual meaning for each emoji allows dealers to display messages accurately, regardless of the reader’s device or operating system. The strategic use of emojis to communicate detailed information allows dealers to often sell drugs in plain sight. These symbols contribute to quick and obfuscated exchanges of information, such as pricing, quantities, and meeting locations.

Emoji use to sell drugs is so problematic in the United States that the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) produced and released an “Emoji Drug Code.” These same drug-inferred emojis are still seen in dark web markets, forums, and chat platforms specializing in the illicit sale of narcotics today.

Figure 1: DEA Emoji Drug Code Cheat Sheet

Figure 2: Drug Sale Using Emojis

Human Trafficking Emojis 🌹

Human traffickers have also adapted to using emojis to facilitate illicit activities. Emojis such as the high heels, 👠 and crown 👑 are often used as advertisements for sex trafficking primarily on social media and online marketplaces. Emoji symbols like the rose 🌹 emoji is often commonly used to indicate availability and seen accompanied with other emojis. Access to the worldwide internet provides traffickers with high-speed communication over large distances thereby eliminating traditional geographical barriers. This means that traffickers no longer always need to physically meet with trafficking victims. Traffickers are also able to use emojis to communicate internally, and coordinate logistics like transportation, routes, and meeting points. Unfortunately, emoji use by traffickers continues to complicate law enforcement and non-profit efforts to combat human trafficking.

Cybercrime Emojis 💻

Cybercriminals also use emojis to obfuscate messages and avoid detection by cybersecurity professionals and technology. Phishing emails, ransomware communications, and many other malicious tactics often incorporate emojis to bypass text-based detection. One such example is the DISGOMOJI malware that uses emojis like to execute local commands and communicate with a command and control (C2).

Figure 3: DISGOMOJI Emoji Cheat Sheet

Forums and chatrooms often use emojis to shorthand discussions. Common emojis include, but are not limited to, the alien 👾, robot 🤖, tech worker 🧑‍💻, spy🕵️‍♂️, world🌐, laptop 💻, monitor 🖥️, and 🔓.

Romance Scam Emojis 💋

Emojis play a critical role in maintaining the illusion of a romantic relationship. Romance scammers strategically use emojis to help reinforce emotional connections with victims. The use of romantic and loving emojis helps scammers to create a sense of intimacy and trust with victims. Using hearts 💕, kisses 💋, and other affectionate symbols 😘 makes victims more susceptible to manipulation. Pig butchering and extortion is a darker side of these scams where victims suffer beyond just petty financial loss including emotional distress, mental health breakdown, and even suicide.

Emojis are used by scammers to maintain a consistent and engaging communication style across various platforms without having to account for a significant language curve. Whether interacting on dating applications, social media, or a messaging service, the use of emojis helps scammers to appear more authentic and relatable to victims. The cross-platform consistency enhances the scammer’s ability to manipulate and deceive, ultimately increasing the success rate of fraudulent schemes.

Fortunately, there don’t appear to be any adaptations, variances, or hidden messages behind the use of romance emojis in romance scams.

Financial Fraud Emojis 💸

Financial fraudsters use emojis to disguise communications regarding fraudulent activities, including laundering and debit/credit card fraud. Emojis like the credit card 💳, money 💸, and package 📦 to emphasis the illicit business model. Emojis help fraudsters obscure content and messages to perspective clients. It’s often easy for fraudsters to manage multiple shop fronts on different platforms since emoji encoding is standardized. Emojis allow fraudsters to reach a bigger audience without having to develop unique or customized content for each platform.

Figures 4,5, and 6: Fraudster Posts Containing Emojis; Source: DarkOwl Vision

Linguistic Bridging 😄

After writing about the bad, it’s also good to point out the positive use of emojis beyond illicit and underground use to rebalance. Emojis are a powerful tool seen being used to bridge linguistic barriers, particularly in non-verbal, multicultural families and migrant communities. Since the small digital icons convey emotions, ideas, and everyday activities in a visual representation, emojis-based conversations often transcend spoken or written words. For families with non-verbal speakers or members who speak different languages, emojis provide a universal means of communication that can simplify interactions and enhance understanding. A simple smiley face 😄 often expresses happiness where a thumbs-up 👍 can signify approval or agreement, regardless of the language barrier.

Emojis are commonly seen significantly enhancing communication capabilities for non-verbal individuals, and friends and family of non-verbal individuals, by offering a visual language that effectively conveys emotions, needs, and responses without the need to speak or type. Expressing feelings such as happiness 😃, sadness ☹️, or confusion 😕 can be extremely challenging or impossible for non-verbal people. But emojis like the smiling face 😊, crying face 😢, or thinking face 🤔 provides a clear and immediate way for non-verbal people to process and communicate emotions.

For multicultural families, where parents and children are fluent in different or often time multiple languages, emojis offer a way for family members to connect and share experiences without the need for extensive verbal explanations. Family members can use the heart emoji ❤️ to express love or the pizza emoji 🍕 to convey a dinner option regardless of a language proficiency. The visual shorthand helps bridge gaps and foster closer family relationships.

Language barriers often create social angst amongst migrant families as they integrate into new communities or navigate migrate-unique situations. Emojis often ease this transition by providing a simple and effective way to communicate basic needs and emotions. The visual cues emojis provide can help overcome language limitations and facilitate smoother interactions in various social and professional settings.

In Closing…

The ambiguity and contextual use of emojis presents significant challenges for law enforcement and cybersecurity professionals in the fight against illicit and malicious criminals. The ability to discern benign from malicious is a critical task. Resources list Smart Social does a good job at keeping an updated list of Emojis in circulation today but understanding and discerning general use from illicit is a significant intelligence gap. Articles, blogs, and white papers that dig into the illicit and malicious use of emojis provides just enough to emphasize the need for deeper understanding, but more times than not contributes to the emoji enigma staking law enforcement and professionals from the shadows. There is a present need to understand the hieroglyphs phenomenon of today so that law enforcement, researchers, and detection systems can identify and, hopefully, prevent digital users from becoming yet another victim.