At the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, we wrote about the ways how the current situation can be abused by criminals. Since the emergence of COVID-19 vaccines, the black market of the so-called darknet was filled with offers to buy preparations from such producers as AstraZeneca, Sputnik, Sinopharm and Johnson & Johnson.

The cost of the vaccine ranges from PLN 1,900 to PLN 2,900. According to the portal dobreprogramy, if you buy two doses of the vaccine, the buyer can qualify for a promotional offer where the next preparation is free. In urgent cases, criminals deliver the order on the next day. Additionally, you can buy a virus vaccination certificate for less than PLN 580.

CheckPoint experts have seen a large increase in the number of vaccine ads on the darknet since January this year, as they found over 1,200 of them. Most of the offers are from the United States, Germany, Spain, France and Russia.
However, so far no one has verified whether the available preparations are real. Checkpoint experts have purchased one claiming to be the Sinopharm vaccine, but have not yet received the shipment.