No surprise that there's apparently a brisk business in COVID-19 vaccines happening on dark web marketplaces. Apparently there are more than 1,000 listings right now covering all the vaccine flavors: Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca, Sputnik, and Sinopharm. Send $500 in Bitcoin and you could get your dose tomorrow. Of course, you could also get nothing in return, a spoiled dose, or some other liquid entirely. From Wired:
Dark web vendors are probably doing better business selling falsified vaccine cards and negative test results. "Lately, we're seeing more vaccination certificates being offered" than vaccines, [said Ekram Ahmed, spokesperson for security firm Check Point who have been monitoring the trade]. "It's probably a two-to-one ratio."
With COVID-19 testing becoming more widespread, the price for negative test results is as low as $25. Vaccination cards are harder to come by and are selling for more, around $200[…]
Ahmed, the Check Point spokesperson, said that the sellers they contacted on dark web marketplaces were hoping to set up long-term relationships with their customers. The target market, he said, "are folks on the ground, people who are looking to spread and sell at the local level in bulk."
image: US Air Force/Airman 1st Class Anna Nolte/Post-production: Zacharie Grossen (public domain)
