Adverts for ‘scam’ Covid jabs spread on the dark web

Adverts for Covid-19 vaccines on the dark web have increased by over 300 per cent in the past three months, according to researchers at Israeli security firm Check Point. Prices range from $500 (£360) to $750 for doses of the Astrazeneca jab, as well as the Russian-made Sputnik, China’s Sinopharm and the Us-approved Johnson & Johnson jabs.

Check Point first highlighted the illegal sale of vaccines in January, since when the number of adverts has tripled to around 1,200, with anonymous sellers based in the US, Spain, Germany, France and Russia. One of the Astrazeneca adverts promises “overnight deliveries within the USA and express deliveries worldwide” (pictured).

Sellers are also offering vaccine ‘passports’ and fake negative tests. One advert reads: “We do negative Covid tests, for travellers abroad, for getting a job etc. Buy two negative tests and get the third for free!”

One advert, supposedly from a UK seller, was offering a vaccination card for a $150 Bitcoin payment, making it harder for authorities to trace. The seller told the researchers they just needed to provide their names and some dates for when the fake jabs occurred.

Oded Vanunu, head of product vulnerabilities research at Check Point, said that obtaining a certificate or vaccine through unofficial sites is “extremely risky” because hackers are interested only in your money and exploiting your personal information.

He told the BBC that his team had bought a dose of the Sinopharm vaccine for $750 as part of their research, but it has yet to arrive. He suspects the seller was a scammer.

Check Point has called on countries to add QR codes to vaccine documentation to make forgeries much harder. See more fake ads on its blog: www.snipca.com/37703.