Dark web vendors are selling counterfeit COVID-19 vaccination records.
Tired of waiting for the vaccination appointment? For just $ 500, you can get a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine tomorrow (overnight shipping not included). Too rich for your blood? How about a vaccination card for just $ 150?
Security researchers have seen an increase in listings in the dark web markets in recent weeks. Sites are advertising everything from vaccine doses to counterfeit vaccine certificates and negative test results. Currently, more than 1,200 listings are offering a variety of vaccines, including Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca, Sputnik and Sinopharm.
Investigations by researchers at security firm Check Point have monitored locations for COVID-19-related activities since January and report a three-fold increase in that activity in the past three months. It is not clear whether the doses are legitimate and, even if they were, there is no guarantee that the bottles were stored at the correct temperature, potentially rendering them useless.
Last week, Check Point researchers based in Israel tried to buy the Sinopharm vaccine from a supplier, said Ekram Ahmed, a spokesman for the company. “We try to negotiate and buy the Chinese vaccine through one of the suppliers,” he told Ars. The team sent a message to the supplier, who instructed them to continue negotiations on Telegram. Once there, the seller assured that the doses of the vaccine were legitimate. The researchers sent $ 500 to a Bitcoin wallet and, although they received a FedEx shipping label, they still haven’t received the shipment.
Dark web vendors are probably doing better business by selling counterfeit vaccine cards and negative test results. “Lately, we are seeing more vaccination certificates being offered” than vaccines, said Ahmed. “It’s probably a two-to-one ratio.”
With the COVID-19 test increasingly widespread, the price of negative test results is only $ 25. Vaccination cards are more difficult to obtain and cost more, around $ 200. These certificates are becoming a kind passport, allowing people a freedom of movement that they have not enjoyed for months. The European Union is in the process of creating a “digital green certificate” that it hopes to launch by June to allow its citizens and residents to travel across borders. In the United States, proof of vaccination can allow people to access certain locations, and employers can require their employees to return to the workplace.
The researchers warned Europol about the listing and are reaching out to others today.
Check Point spokesman Ahmed said salespeople who contacted in the dark web markets hoped to establish long-term relationships with their customers. The target market, he said, “are people on the ground, people who are looking to spread and sell in bulk locally.”
List image by Check Point Research