As vaccines are getting approved by countries like the UK and US, the Darknet has started cashing upon this. Cybercriminals are now selling fake COVID-19 vaccine for as much as $250 on the dark web.
A report by Check Point Researcher, a cybersecurity firm said that since November, over 1,062 domains have been created consisting the keyword ‘vaccine’.
Posts on the dark web range from ‘coronavirus vaccines’ to ‘coronavirus remedies’ for sale. And to avoid getting traced, these scammers are asking for payment via Bitcoin.
One vendor claimed that 14 doses of unspecified COVID-19 vaccines are required, whereas official announcement states that some Coronavirus vaccines require two shots, given 3 weeks apart, per person.
Whereas another tried to sell chloroquine as a regular COVID-19 ‘treatment’ for only $10. Earlier this year, US President Donald Trump touted the use of hydroxychloroquine to treat coronavirus.
Also, scams are not just limited to Darknet as scammers are also using popular messaging platforms WhatsApp and Telegram to defraud people.