Criminal gangs are orchestrating firebombings, murders, and drive-by shootings through a secretive app that parallels one depicted in the John Wick movies.
This app, which launched in recent months, has been likened to an ‘Airtasker for criminals,’ where members post ‘jobs’ that contractors then accept.
Designed by underworld ‘management,’ the app closely resembles the digital network of assassins featured in the Hollywood blockbuster John Wick, starring Keanu Reeves. In the film, hits are digitally advertised to assassins, with successful hitmen receiving payment.
An Australian underworld source revealed to The Age that the app enables a select group of members to commission and pay for violent crimes anonymously. The app is an encrypted platform operated outside of Australia.
The app’s name remains confidential, with access granted only through verification by existing members. New users receive a code name from the app’s administrators, ensuring anonymity for both the app and its users.
Although any member can advertise jobs, high-ranking officials in organized crime typically commission them. These jobs include firebombings, robberies, murders, shootings, assaults, armed robberies, drive-bys, and the supply of weapons and getaway cars. Senior gang members or crew leaders usually accept these tasks.
Details about targets or timing are withheld until a contractor accepts the job. Once a job is accepted, the criminal boss and contractor move to a private encrypted chat to discuss specifics and negotiate payment. The contractor then delegates the task to someone in his crew or another criminal associate.
Payments are made securely, often using cryptocurrency, and include a fee for the app’s operators. Although administrators know the real identities of the members, they remain unaware of job details due to the use of external encrypted chats.
Members face permanent bans for violating the app’s terms of service, such as failing to pay a contractor or complete a job. The source noted that Australian law enforcement is aware of the app but has been unable to penetrate its secure encryption.
The app’s design also limits data exposure if law enforcement acquires a working version and a password, as jobs disappear within one hour of posting, and members are protected by codenames. The app also has a self-destruct feature activated if a code is not entered every 24 hours.
The NSW Crime Commission’s annual report highlighted the surge in criminal groups using encrypted communications between 2022 and 2023. The report stated, “Organised violence is an increasingly professionalised industry, with a growing range of service providers available for hire.”
The report also indicated that Australian organized crime groups have invested in developing bespoke encrypted messaging applications for internal use and to sell to other syndicates.
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