SAN FRANCISCO — On a website called Azerbaijani Eagles, you can commission a murder for US$5,000 (S$6,900). The site Slayers Hitmen provides more options, with a beating going for US$2,000. Death by torture costs US$50,000.

But don’t expect someone to get the job done. Experts and law enforcers who have studied these sites — almost all of them on the so-called dark web or dark net — say they are scams. There has not been a known murder attributed to any of them.