APO Group/LAGOS, Nigeria, March 4, 2021 — Con artists and black market dealers have taken advantage of one of the world’s biggest and most complex vaccination programs in history, and it’s not shocking that they’ve been eager to benefit from it.
Kaspersky (https://africa.Kaspersky.com) researchers examined 15 separate Darknet markets and discovered ads for three major COVID vaccines: Pfizer / BioNTech, AstraZeneca, and Moderna. There were also vendors selling “COVID19” vaccines that had not been tested.
Prices per dose ranged from $ 250 to $ 1,200, with an average of about $ 500. The majority of sellers were from France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and prices per dose ranged from $ 250 to $ 1,200. Payments are demanded in the form of cryptocurrency, mainly Bitcoin, and communications are carried out via encrypted messaging apps such as Wickr and Telegram.
The majority of these underground vendors have completed between 100 and 500 transactions, suggesting that they have completed sales, but it is unclear what Darknet users are purchasing.
It’s difficult to tell how many vaccine doses advertised online are genuine (many medical facilities ended up with leftover doses. [https://nbcnews.to/3c2pEzi]) and how many advertisements are a scam based on the knowledge Kaspersky experts have.
And if you got anything in the mail, there’s a fair chance it wasn’t an appropriate or true dosage. Obtaining such doses is, however, illegal.
“You can find just about anything on the Darknet, so it’s no surprise that the vendors are trying to capitalize on the vaccination campaign. Over the past year, there has been a whole slew of scams exploiting the topic of COVID, and many of them have been successful.
Right now, not only are people selling doses of the vaccine, they are also selling vaccination cards – pieces of paper that can help you travel freely. It’s important that users are wary of any pandemic-related “deals” and, of course, it’s never a good idea to buy a vaccine on the Darknet, ”comments Dmitry Galov, security expert at Kaspersky.
SOURCE: NNN
