Digital covid-19 vaccination certificates for use in the US and the European Union are available to buy on the dark web. Most appear to be fake, but others may be valid entries in national databases that have been leaked, say researchers.
Covid-19 restrictions in many countries require proof of vaccination against the coronavirus to access certain places, such as restaurants and nightclubs. In France, for instance, people have needed to show a vaccine passport to visit cafes and museums since August 2021.
Vaccine passports most commonly take the form of a digital record in a dedicated smartphone app, presented as a scannable QR code.
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at Aalborg University in Denmark and his colleagues found 17 marketplaces and 10 shops on the dark web 鈥� a collection of websites that can be accessed privately via special browsers 鈥� that claim to offer falsified digital vaccine passports for sale. The researchers analysed listings using search engines that crawl the dark web.
The listings claimed to sell vaccine passports and certificates from a number of different European countries and the US in exchange for payment in cryptocurrencies. But many of the certificates aren鈥檛 real, says Vasilomanolakis. 鈥淥ur opinion, at least from our findings, suggests that the vast majority of everything is a scam,鈥� he says.
However, Vasilomanolakis and his colleagues believe there were a number of legitimate vaccination certificates offered for sale. Some of the QR codes shown as evidence to entice customers to buy appear to be valid entries in national databases.
One French certificate, on sale for $450 in cryptocurrency, was associated with a valid and operational QR code. However, the name associated with it didn鈥檛 appear to be a real person 鈥� the only record found online of a person with that name dated back to the 18th century.
Another seller displayed a video showing the back end of a European vaccine records system, indicating they had access to it. The video also shows the seller鈥檚 internal records, indicating they have fulfilled 1700 orders, generating more than $450,000 in profit.
鈥淭hat dark web marketplaces have been exploited by criminals in this context is unsurprising,鈥� says at the University of Liverpool, UK, who studies the dark web. 鈥淭hey have long provided an opportunity for individuals to gain access to goods and services that they would otherwise struggle to procure, safely and easily, in everyday life.鈥�
The possibility that insiders might have leaked some certificates is concerning, says Shillito. 鈥淚t appears some could be people within health service providers selling or providing access to legitimate certificates,鈥� he says.
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