Pigeons who claim to be operators often send direct messages offering deals or notifying you of issues. If you reply without verifying the key, you might be talking to someone holding the public key but not the private one. Or worse, they might have imported a fresh key generated on your machine. The fix is simple: check the fingerprint. The official operator key for this platform uses the fingerprint ending in EFD9. The full identifier is 7699F8D1124EE4C6050C1DC776F282251486EFD9. Any message signed with a different key is unsigned or forged. Do not assume that because the sender used your email address, the key is correct. Anyone can sign a message with a key they imported locally.
Where to check the fingerprint
The fingerprint is published in two places. First, it appears in the footer of every main page. Second, it is displayed prominently on the dedicated PGP page. Additionally, key rotations or new releases are announced in the news section of the market itself. Before trusting a PM, open the market interface in a second window. Find the announcement board. Compare the fingerprint listed there to the one in your keyring. If the market is accessible via mirror, use the mirror to double-check. If the fingerprints differ, stop. Close the chat window immediately. Do not enter credentials, do not send payment proofs, and do not click any links sent by that contact. Treat the conversation as unverified until the keys match perfectly across independent sources.
Why lookalikes cannot forge signatures
A fake market site can copy the HTML layout and even host a similar .onion address. However, cryptography is deterministic. A lookalike domain can import the public key, but it does not possess the private key. Therefore, it cannot generate a valid digital signature. When you inspect the header of a received message in your mail client or PGP tool, it will show the signing key's fingerprint. If that fingerprint matches the published value above, the message came from someone holding the private key. If it does not match, reject it instantly. Understanding common tricks used in these situations is covered in the article on typical scam patterns.