Sellers in 15 different “dark web” markets have distributed hundreds of doses of what they claim to be Covid-19 Vaccines, according to a new study from cybersecurity firm Kaspersky. In addition, Kaspersky researchers believe that a significant portion of those sales, as much as 30%, could be actual vaccines.
“There is some evidence that some of these vendors are providing real doses,” said Dmitry Galov, a Kaspersky researcher who led the study into the illegal online sale of vaccines. “There are pictures of packaging and medical certificates. It seems that some of these people have internal access to medical facilities.”
The doses are available for a whopping $ 1,200 a pop, and Kaspersky researchers, who completed their study two weeks ago, say some vaccine vendors have completed as many as 500 transactions. Galov said prices have increased recently and all sales are in cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin, making them difficult to track. But according to the study, at least some of the sellers claimed to be in the United States. Other sellers said they were based in Europe.
Most of the sellers seemed straightforward, offering only a few doses each. Still, Galov said the Kaspersky researchers had found at least a handful of vendors who completed hundreds of transactions of what appeared to be real vaccines.
One of the vaccine ads that Kaspersky researchers discovered stated that it did not sell vaccines, but instead accepted donations in exchange for doses. “Your donations will help save more lives, so please show your generosity,” read the offer, which instructed donors to pre-send $ 81 in bitcoin per dose requested, along with a name, address, and any known illnesses or medical conditions to receive a shipment. of vaccine. It also stated that supplies were limited so that “we can save more lives as soon as possible”.
Credit to Kaspersky
Lev Kubiak, Pfizer’s chief security officer, told CBS MoneyWatch that the drug company has found some cases of scammers falsifying the company’s packaging, but there are no actual doses for sale.
“Pfizer proactively monitors the Internet, including the dark web, and coordinates with law enforcement,” said Kubiak. “We have not seen any real doses being sold on the illicit market.”
Kubiak said Pfizer has been closely monitoring where its vaccines go. “In the US there are no costs for vaccination, and the only vaccine sold in the US is to government agencies,” said Kubiak. “People have to be very careful. As far as we can tell, there is no leakage of doses [outside of legitimate vaccination channels]
Spokesmen for vaccine makers Moderna and AstraZenca have returned no requests for comment.
The problem of whether some vaccines are being sold on the dark web – and whether people are being scammed – is growing. The dark web is the generic term used for web pages that are coded in such a way that they cannot be found by Google or other search engines and require an “anonymizing” browser. Often the web pages are also encrypted.
An academic study published in January found that vaccine offerings surfaced on the dark web as early as March 2020. Those offers were almost certainly bogus.
Last month, Check Point said CBS Chicago the number of vaccine ads on the dark web had grown rapidly over the past six weeks. But when researchers at that cybersecurity company tried to buy vaccines, the sellers disappeared before the researchers could receive doses.
“Our expectations were low, and of course they were not met,” Mark Ostrowski, chief of engineering at Check Point, told CBS Chicago.
Kaspersky’s Galov said there are some specialized markets on the dark web that are invitation-only and claim to sell vaccines. But vaccines are also available for purchase in some of the larger dark web markets. Galov said Kaspersky decided not to disclose the names of those marketplaces in its research because it did not want to encourage people to buy vaccines themselves.
Also for sale: fake vaccination cards and test results
“It’s harder than going to Amazon,” said Galov. “But it’s not something so difficult that only a specialist engineer can figure it out.”
Galov said he has seen no evidence of regulators trying to crack down on those on the dark web who claim to be selling vaccines.
Also for sale are fake vaccination cards and forged documents claiming that a person has had a negative COVID-19 test. Questionable treatments for the disease are also being touted, according to the study.
In some cases, sellers claimed to have made special shipping containers to ship doses of the Pfizer vaccine – which must be kept at temperatures well below zero to remain effective.
“Sellers are trying to prove [the doses] are not fake, “said Galov.” We think some of them are indeed real. “