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You should pay in Bitcoin: Alleged Covid-19 vaccine offers on the Darknet
Photo:
Check point
"$ 1,500 for four doses," enough for two people, is the offer on Telegram for a Chinese Covid-19 vaccine.
Check Point security researchers agree to buy half for one person.
Makes $ 750, payable in Bitcoin.
They have contact from a Darknet forum, and their money also disappears in the dark.
When, a few days after the Bitcoin transaction, they asked when the goods would arrive, the Telegram contact replied that they had already been shipped.
Shortly afterwards the account no longer exists and the goods never arrive.
Check Point was well worth the money.
The Israeli company had already warned against such offers in December.
In the meantime, Check Point reports, the number of corresponding advertisements has quadrupled and there are hundreds of alleged offers.
The prices for the alleged vaccines have meanwhile doubled to quadrupled.
Apparently, fraudsters expect some people to pay any price out of desperation and fear of being infected with the coronavirus in order not to have to wait any longer for their vaccination.
14 times per person?
While the average price in December was $ 250, it has now risen to $ 500 to $ 1,000 according to Check Point, although the dosage information fluctuated wildly.
One provider said that the vaccine it sold had to be administered 14 times per person, which does not match any known Covid-19 vaccine.
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"4 doses is for 1 person?": Price negotiation on Telegram
Photo: Check Point
Originally, most vaccines were offered without naming the manufacturer or other details, it is said: At most, "Made in China" could be read.
In the meantime, most providers would advertise with an alleged certificate from the US health authority FDA.
According to a report by Vice, there were fraudulent attempts to make money with the vaccine from Biontech and Pfizer as early as early December.
But the providers couldn't prove at the time that they really had it available.
Instead, one of them sent a stock photo as receipt, which showed a vial labeled "Coronavirus vaccine".
$ 30,000 for supposedly 10,000 cans
According to Check Point, what is new is that some sellers are offering up to 10,000 cans per order, enough for 5,000 people.
The price: $ 30,000.
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Alleged $ 500 vaccine
Photo: Check Point
The company advises: "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is." Trying to get a vaccine against Covid-19 on the Darknet will only do one thing: "Shrink your bank balance."
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