Paul Baker, 36, and Nathan Joseph, 31, used the personal data of more than 10 people to access their accounts, transfer money and purchase tens of thousands of dollars worth of items.

The couple, who had been in a relationship for two years, attempted to fraudulently obtain $153,000 in total, including attempts to purchase $98,000 worth of goods and compromising 17 different bank accounts.

Most of the money was recovered in reverse transactions or unsuccessful attempts, however one financial service lost $59,000 after compensating the victims of their losses.

Baker and Joseph, who lived in Ballarat with Baker's mother at the time, pleaded guilty at the County Court in Ballarat to more than 17 charges on Tuesday.

Crown prosecutor Peter Pickering said the offending began in October 2018 when the pair located a licence and mastercard that a man had misplaced while shopping.

They used the card at an ATM to withdraw $1000 and spent more than $1000 on a gaming console, games and a smartphone.

Mr Pickering said the pair then used websites on the dark web to purchase 'digital fingerprints' (personal data profiles) of members of the public.

He said the profiles could be purchased by criminals for amounts between $1 and $300 using Bitcoin.

The court heard Baker and Joseph purchased the personal details of a couple in October 2018 and used the information to apply for and open new bank accounts and new credit cards.

No transactions were made before one of the victims became aware of the new accounts.

Mr Pickering said the couple purchased another person's personal information in January 2019 and accessed the victim's personal email and information.

They used the victim's credit card for transactions with Dan Murphy's and used the details to open six new bank cards in the victim's name, however the attempt to apply for a $7000 credit was declined.

The court heard Baker is charged with blackmail after he hacked a victim's email address to access personal information and then sent the victim an email threatening to reveal personal secrets and ruin his career if he didn't stop cancelling the new cards Baker had applied for.

Mr Pickering said Baker and Joseph continued to purchase personal profiles, attempted to create new accounts and transfer money and used people's accounts to purchase more than $90,000 of goods throughout 2019.

Police began investigating in May 2019 and enquiries with various stores revealed many items purchased using the accounts were delivered to Baker and Joseph's Ballarat address.

Police searched the house on July 31 and found a large amount of property including computers, a television, phones, fridges, gaming systems, bank cards and smart card readers they suspected to be proceeds of crime.

It took almost an hour for the lengthy list of charges to be read aloud in court.

When asked if Baker would plead guilty or not guilty to charge 17, which listed the 33 times he and Joseph compromised the bank accounts of eight different people, he said: 'oh my god, those poor people, I am so sorry'.

Baker and Joseph remain on bail and have not served any time in prison.

They told the court they were currently unemployed.

Mr Pickering said a term of imprisonment should be imposed for both accused.

He said while identity fraud was common, he had not yet found a case in Victoria on fraud using the dark web.

Judge Damian Murphy adjourned the case to September 24 to allow for the preparation of a psychological report for Joseph.

He will hear defence submissions and further prosecution submissions on that date.

If you are seeing this message you are a loyal digital subscriber to The Courier, as we made this story available only to subscribers. Thank you very much for your support and allowing us to continue telling Ballarat's story. We appreciate your support of journalism in our great city.