The dark internet has always been a shadow pit filled with black market and conspiracy theories, but these days, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and most of us in lockdown, scammers have a new audience and more. desperate to focus on.
As organizations and consumers try to purchase protective products, medical equipment and multiple studies are developed to find a vaccine for the coronavirus, scammers have begun to promote precisely fake vaccines, sales of masks and even respirators on the dark web, that hidden and anonymous network that overlaps the Internet and can only be accessed through special clients such as the Tor browser. The latest product to enter this dangerous black market is COVID-19 infected blood.
Cryptocurrency analytics company Chainanalysis has revealed that criminals claim to be selling coronavirus-infected blood on the darknet . And it is that cybercriminals have responded differently to the crisis than the rest of the world. The dark web has not been immune to the adverse effects of the pandemic, with a 33% decrease in the volume of cryptocurrencies sent to fraudulent addresses and that is why new levels of amorality have emerged with the sale of blood infected with coronavirus that , according to the marketer of the dark Internet, has injected into bats. The store owner alleges that the blood was drawn from his hospitalized father. It is unclear if the seller is actually selling infected blood, or is simply trying to scam victims for bitcoins, but the threat is there.
Coronaestafas
The desperation of many leads others to see a more than interesting market niche. Just a day ago, in a report by two threat intelligence firms, Sixgill and DarkOwl , it was discovered that not only are fake vaccines or discount codes being sold to increase sales of fraudulent material related to the coronavirus, they are new shipments. of products are joining this inhumane trend. This is what is being sold on the dark web:
- PPE or personal protective equipment
- Masks
- Respirators
- MP3 files that kill the coronavirus (an mp3 file whose seller claims that if you listen to it 3-6 times a day it helps you kill the coronavirus thanks to the frequencies in which it is recorded).
Without going any further, a website is selling packages of 10 N95 masks at 80 euros, presumed vaccines against the coronavirus created in Israel at around 100 euros per dose or vials of blood and saliva infected with COVID-19 also for around 100 euros each (by a “laboratory doctor of the Spanish public health, according to the announcement).
We must remember that, even if some of these materials were legitimate in some cases, for example, masks, buying them from such sellers would indirectly contribute to their sales, allowing them to prosper with their illegal activities. So we recommend that you avoid purchasing these products no matter how desperate the situation may seem in certain scenarios. You have to avoid any purchase on the dark Internet because you do not know where it comes from or what it actually contains. We are facing a new generation of scammers and the way the dark web works makes it difficult for law enforcement to locate the owners.
Some dark network operators have banned the sale of “cures” for COVID-19, and ransomware manager DoppelPaymer stated that they would not carry out attacks on hospitals during the crisis, but not everyone has the same morals regarding illicit cryptocurrency transactions. .
