Skip to Content

Coding SQL Query in a PHP file using Atom to work on web projects. Photo credit: Caspar Camille Rubin

Fake Covid vaccines sold on the Dark Web

Interpol has warned of “potential criminal activity linked to counterfeiting, theft and illegal promotion of vaccines against Covid-19”.

Published: January 6, 2021, 8:19 am

    Read more

    Paris

    Since November, some fraudulent websites have proposed doses of the vaccine against the Coronavirus, while the whole world is seeking to quickly put in place vaccine strategies in order to control the epidemic. But some of these vaccines are actually counterfeit serums.

    “It is surely placebo,” said Xaxier Duros, technical director of Check Point Software, a company specializing in cybersecurity. Duros spoke to French daily Le Parisien on Tuesday, January 5. According to the daily, these counterfeit vaccines cost between $250 and $1 000. In early December, Interpol warned of “potential criminal activity linked to the counterfeiting, theft and illegal promotion of Covid-19 vaccines”.

    Since then, the authorities closely monitor these shenanigans on the Dark Web, reported Le Parisien. “We have seen the emergence of nearly 1 000 new sites dealing with the subject on this parallel Internet. We have identified a dozen which offered vaccine doses,” said Xavier Duros. The director of Avisa Partners – and also specialist in counterfeiting on the Internet – Antoine Violet-Surcouf confirmed these sales: “The offer is not as massive as for other drugs but there has been the appearance of ‘autoshops’, or mini-sites selling Chinese or Russian vaccines.”

    According to the information of the daily, it is nevertheless required to pay in Bitcoin, a virtual currency. “This excludes direct purchase by [private individuals] because you have to know the sales platforms and get virtual currency,” said Antoine Violet-Surcouf.

    “The sale takes place mainly between small resellers who then dispatch them to restricted circles via private couriers,” he said.

    The vaccine is not the only product, linked to the Coronavirus, available on the Dark Web. Since the start of the health crisis, Antoine Violet-Surcouf and his teams have gradually seen the emergence of sales of chloroquine, negative PCF tests (essential for traveling) but also blood bags from Coronavirus patients, reported Le Parisien. These malicious organizations face up to five years in prison and a fine of 150 000 euros if caught.

    All rights reserved. You have permission to quote freely from the articles provided that the source (www.freewestmedia.com) is given. Photos may not be used without our consent.

    Consider donating to support our work

    Help us to produce more articles like this. FreeWestMedia is depending on donations from our readers to keep going. With your help, we expose the mainstream fake news agenda.

    Keep ​your language polite​. Readers from many different countries visit and contribute to Free West Media and we must therefore obey the rules in​,​ for example​, ​Germany. Illegal content will be deleted.

    If you have been approved to post comments without preview from FWM, you are responsible for violation​s​ of​ any​ law. This means that FWM may be forced to cooperate with authorities in a possible crime investigation.

    If your comments are subject to preview ​by FWM, please be patient. We continually review comments but depending on the time of day it can take up to several hours before your comment is reviewed.

    We reserve the right to del​ete​ comments that are offensive, contain slander or foul language, or are irrelevant to the discussion.

    Europe

    The Bellingcat phenomenon: how to declare a war against free speech and be awarded for ‘advances in journalism’

    At the end of March an American journalist Brenna T. Smith published a controversial article which consisted of revealing the personal data of people who took part in the storming of the US Capitol on January 6.

    Race for the title of ‘global savior’ – US dials back its hegemony during the pandemic

    The actions of the White House to support its European allies during the pandemic raise questions both from political elites who are loyal to the United States and from those who represent anti-American positions.

    Asylum seekers in Denmark can be sent 700km away – to Rwanda

    CopenhagenPeople who immigrate to Denmark illegally and seek asylum will soon be transported 700 km away and placed in a Danish asylum centre in a Central African country.

    Oxford study finds correlation between blood clotting events and most current vaccines

    MoscowThe developers of Sputnik V, the Russian vaccine against Covid-19, have urged health regulators to look into a University of Oxford study on the correlation between the occurrence of rare blood clotting and vaccines currently injected on a mass scale globally.

    EU countries agree on a uniform vaccination passport

    BerlinAccording to media reports, the member states of the European Union have agreed on a uniform vaccination card for travel within the Union. The EU states are therefore defining their position on the so-called "Green Passport", which should be operational by the end of June.

    Japan as a model for zero immigration

    DresdenDr. Jan Moldenhauer is a member of the AfD state board in Saxony-Anhalt and district chairman of the AfD Magdeburg. In May 2018 he published a study entitled "Japan's policy of zero immigration - a role model for Germany?"

    Development aid funds rise to a record high

    ParisGlobal funds for development aid reached a new high in the past year. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) announced in Paris on Tuesday, that public funds from donor countries rose to more than 161 billion US dollars (around 136 billion euros).

    Vaccine-immune Corona variants conceivable say researchers

    GöttingenCorona variants, against which current vaccines are less effective or no longer effective at all, can also arise in Germany, according to researchers. This is particularly possible with the virus spreading in a third wave, according to Stefan Pöhlmann and Markus Hoffmann from the Leibniz Institute for Primate Research in Göttingen.

    Study: No black goalkeepers in German Bundesliga equals discrimination and ‘racial stacking’

    According to a study, the absence of dark-skinned goalkeepers in the Bundesliga is due to racial discrimination not talent. The reason why individual clubs do not employ black goalkeepers, could be a coincidence, explained integration researcher Tina Nobis from Humboldt University in Berlin. "That there isn't a single black goalkeeper in the Bundesliga, means it's not a coincidence."

    European Court of Human Rights gives the green light for compulsory vaccinations

    StrasbourgIt is the first time that the European Court of Human Rights has dealt with the issue of compulsory vaccination. According to the ECHR, the mandatory vaccinations are in the "best interests" of society. According to experts, the judgment could play a role in the enforcement of Covid vaccinations.

    Go to archive