Covid-19 vaccines are sold on Darknet, with prices reaching $ 1,200 per dose.
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Cybercriminals and black market sellers sell the three major vaccines against Covid on “Darknet”: Pfizer / BioNTech, AstraZeneca and Moderna, and some even advertised for unapproved “Covid-19” vaccines, cybersecurity experts from Kaspersky said. .
Prices per dose range from $ 250 to $ 1,200, he says News.ro.
“Globally, one of the largest and most complex vaccination campaigns in history is currently underway, and it is not surprising that cybercriminals and black market vendors have been eager to take advantage of this process. Kaspersky researchers examined 15 different markets on Darknet and found advertisements for three major vaccines against COVID: Pfizer / BioNTech, AstraZeneca and Moderna. Among other things, there were vendors advertising unapproved Covid-19 vaccines. “, the company informed.
Most seller’s ads come from France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and prices range from $ 250 to $ 1,200, with an average cost of about $ 500. Communication regarding these ads is done through encrypted messaging applications such as Wickr and Telegram, while payments are requested in the form of cryptocurrencies, mainly Bitcoin.
“Most of these black market sellers have made between 100-500 transactions, indicating that they have completed sales, but it remains unclear what Darknet users are buying. From the information available to Kaspersky experts, it is impossible to say how many of the doses of vaccines promoted online are real doses (many medical units have remaining doses) and how many advertisements are, in fact, deceptive. “, states the company.
Even if they receive something in the mail, most likely what buyers receive may not be an effective and valid dose of vaccine. More importantly, obtaining such doses is illegal.
“You can find almost anything on Darknet, so it’s no surprise that sellers there are trying to capitalize on the vaccination campaign. In the last year, there have been a number of scams that exploit the subject of Covid-19 and many of them have been successful. At the moment, people are not only selling vaccine doses, but also vaccination certificates, documents that can help you travel without restrictions. It’s important for users to be wary of any pandemic-related “business” and, of course, it’s never a good idea to buy a vaccine on the Darknet. “says Dmitry Galov, a security expert at Kaspersky.
To be safe from the Covid-19 pandemic scams, Kaspersky experts recommend that we never buy vaccine products or doses from Darknet.
“If you see an advertisement for something related to Covid-19, look carefully at the URLs of the sites you visit. If a single letter seems out of place or if the usual .com has been replaced with .com.tk or something like that, instinct should signal to you that it is a phishing attempt. Never enter personal information on such a site. Pay attention to grammar and graphics both on the sites you visit and on the emails you receive. “, tell him.
Kaspersky is a global cyber security company founded in 1997. The company’s portfolio includes top endpoint protection and several specialized security solutions and services to combat increasingly complex digital threats. Over 400 million individual users are protected by Kaspersky technologies, as well as 250,000 client companies.
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