With various nations like the US and the UK now approving the use of Pfizer-BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine, cybercriminals have sensed an chance to lure folks into purchasing fake treatments on the dark net, stated a report from cybersecurity firm Check Point.
Researchers at Check Point stated they have identified a stream of posts on the darknet from sources claiming to have a variety of “coronavirus vaccines” or “coronavirus remedies” for sale.
The variety of medicines advertised by these vendors is comprehensive, with a single vendor even displaying vaccine availability for $250, stated the report. However, the researchers warned that the treatments advertised on the dark net are probably to be fake.
“All of the vendors we found insist on payment in bitcoin, as it minimises the chance of them being traced, casting further doubt on the authenticity of the medicines they are selling,” Check Point stated in a weblog post.
In communications with a single vendor, they presented to sell an unspecified Covid-19 vaccine for .01 BTC (about $300), and claimed that 14 doses have been expected.
This guidance contradicts official announcements which state that some Covid vaccines need two shots, offered 3 weeks apart, per individual. In this instance, the seller claimed to have stocks of a top vaccine producers newly-authorized vaccine readily available for sale and delivery from the UK, US and Spain.
Another vendor on the dark net was identified providing chloroquine as a common coronavirus “treatment”, for only $10 with the claim that “Hydroxychloroquine, a medicine for malaria that has been touted as a treatment for coronavirus.”
This follows statements from US President Donald Trump who touted the use of hydroxychloroquine to ward off coronavirus, in contradiction to the guidance from his personal public well being officials.
Check Point researchers also warned that optimistic news about vaccine trials in November and imminent availability also led to a surge in new net domains that relate to Covid-19 or vaccines becoming registered.
“Our data shows that since the beginning of November there were 1,062 new domains which contain the word ‘vaccine’ that were registered, out of which 400 also contain ‘covid’ or ‘corona’. Six of these sites were found to be ‘suspicious’,” Check Point stated.