“Globally, one of the largest and most complex vaccination campaigns in history is underway, and it’s no surprise that cybercriminals and black marketers have been eager to take advantage of this process. Kaspersky researchers have “Examined 15 different markets on Darknet and found ads for three major vaccines against COVID: Pfizer / BioNTech, AstraZeneca and Moderna.
Most sellers’ ads come from France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States, and prices per dose range from $ 250 to $ 1,200, with an average cost of about $ 500. Communication regarding these announcements 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 sellers on the black markets have made between 100-500 transactions, indicating that they have completed sales, but it remains unclear what exactly Darknet users are buying. According to information available to Kaspersky experts, it is impossible to say how many doses of vaccines promoted online are real doses (many medical units have remaining doses) and how many advertisements are, in fact, deceptive “, the company states.
Getting doses is illegal
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 exploiting the COVID-19 subject and many of them have been successful. At this time, people are not only selling vaccine doses, but also vaccination certificates – documents that can help you travel without restrictions.It is important that users be cautious about anything> related to the pandemic and, of course, 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 you never buy products – or doses of vaccine – from Darknet.
“If you see an ad 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 this, instinct should signal to you that it is a phishing attempt.Never enter personal information on such a site.Pay attention to grammar and graphic appearance both on the sites you visit and in what look at the emails you receive, “they say.
Kaspersky is a global cybersecurity 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.
Read also:
– .
