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Fake vaccine cards for the coronavirus and vaccines that are touted as COVID-19 vaccines are for sale in parts of the dark web, cybersecurity analysts warn.
Ads for these fake products reportedly increased more than 300% in the last three months.
Cybersecurity firm Check Point Software released the highlights of its report, noting that several brands of the COVID-19 vaccine, including AstraZeneca, Sputnik, SINOPHARM, and Johnson & Johnson, were on sale for between $ 500 and $ 1,000 per dose. .
The dark web hosts encrypted networks and sites that are generally undetected by search engines, where people buy and sell illegal materials.
Counterfeit vaccination certificates have reportedly been sold as people search for ways to obtain the credentials that will allow them to travel and board airplanes. Storefronts are also reportedly selling negative coronavirus test documents for just $ 25.
The US Department of Health and Human Services is also alerting the public to fraud and similar scams related to COVID-19 through telemarketing calls, social media platforms, and door-to-door visits.
They also warn people not to share photos of their COVID-19 vaccination cards on social media.
“Posting content that includes your date of birth, health care details or other personally identifiable information can be used to steal your identity,” the department’s website says.
Meanwhile, poor countries are still scrambling for COVID-19 vaccine supplies.
About three-quarters of the vaccine doses administered globally have gone to just 10 countries. At least 30 countries have yet to start their own vaccination campaigns.
Africa could face the worst of this inequality: the continent has 17% of the world’s population, but has so far only administered about 2% of the vaccine doses administered globally.
The World Health Organization has criticized the global COVID-19 vaccine gap, and CEO Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called the inequality “grotesque.”
While many rich countries have pledged to support the Global COVID-19 Vaccine Access Center or the WHO COVAX initiative, which provides vaccines to poorer nations, few have shared their supplies.
On Monday, AstraZeneca announced that its vaccine was shown to be 79% effective against the virus, but the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases says the company may have included outdated and incomplete data before issuing its announcement.
The NIH urged the company, which developed the vaccine with the University of Oxford, to work with US regulators to review the efficacy data and make sure it is the most accurate and up-to-date “as quickly as possible.”
A survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Washington Post found that more than 4 in 10 frontline healthcare workers remained unvaccinated.
At least 18% of those surveyed said they have no plans to get vaccinated.
Russian President Vladimir Putin received a coronavirus vaccine on Tuesday, but the Kremlin said the process will not be filmed.
A spokesman said Putin “does not like” to be in front of the camera and told reporters that “you will have to take our word for it.”
Brazil surpassed 12 million confirmed COVID-19 cases, with more than 1,300 deaths reported on Monday.
Political leaders are criticizing President Jair Bolsonaro, and Sao Paulo Governor Joao Doria, calling him a “psychopathic leader” for his handling of the pandemic.
