Covid-19: negative tests and vaccination certificates for sale on the dark web
A Spanish police officer checking the PCR tests of a Frenchman wishing to go to Spain.
AFP - RAYMOND ROIG
Text by: Dominique Desaunay Follow
3 min
In addition to offering counterfeit anti-Covid-19 vaccines, the dark web and several hacking forums are currently selling fake Covid-19 test results and fake vaccination certificates.
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The computer threat monitoring laboratory Check Point Research warns about this new trend that is invading these clandestine platforms not listed by search engines.
With a lot of advertising, ephemeral illicit sales marketplaces on the dark web are happily benefiting from the global health crisis.
In particular those concerning
the fraudulent trade in vaccines
against
Covid-19
, the number of which has increased by more than 300% in the last three months, posting a price of the vaccine dose between 500 and 1000 dollars.
In its latest report,
cybersecurity firm CheckPoint revealed that attestations showing a negative Covid-19 test result as well as
vaccination
"
certificates
" were made, created and printed to order.
$ 25 for a negative PCR test
They can allow individuals, in defiance of health rules, to board flights, to cross a border or to undertake any other activity requiring this type of proof.
"
Average price for a favorable PCR test?"
25 dollars!
», Explains Xavier Duros, technical director of Check Point Research.
As a reminder, forgery and the use of false documents to cross a border in all countries of the world is a criminal offense, the penalty of which may be imprisonment.
Until now, the crooks of the dark web still escape the vigilance of the authorities because these discrete transactions on these platforms are untraceable.
In particular because the payment is always made using a virtual currency.
In addition, there is a risk in making these types of dark web purchases as they allow criminals to easily retrieve customers' personal data in order to access their bank accounts.
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See also: Headlines: the European Commission unveils its vaccine passport
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In the spotlight: the European Commission unveils its vaccine passport