Profiling the vendors of COVID-19 related product on the Darknet: An observational study

Valeria Catalani; Honor D Townshend; Mariya Prilutskaya; Andres Roman-Urrestarazu; Robin van Kessel; Robert P Chilcott; Hani Banayoti; Tim McSweeney; Ornella Corazza

doi:10.1016/j.etdah.2023.100051

Profiling the vendors of COVID-19 related product on the Darknet: An observational study

Emerg Trends Drugs Addict Health. 2023:3:100051. doi: 10.1016/j.etdah.2023.100051. Epub 2023 Mar 22.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ School of Life and Medical Sciences, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, United Kingdom.
² School of Law, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, United Kingdom.
³ Department of Personalised Medicine, Pavlodar Branch of Semey Medical University, Pavlodar, Kazakhstan.
⁴ Department of International Health, Care and Public Health Research Institute (CAPHRI), Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands.
⁵ Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
⁶ Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, USA.
⁷ LSE Health, Department of Health Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, United Kingdom.
⁸ Cybersolace Limited, London, United Kingdom.
⁹ Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, University of Trento, Italy.

Abstract

Background: In a time of unprecedented global change, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a surge in demand of COVID-19 vaccines and related certifications. Mainly due to supply shortages, counterfeit vaccines, fake documentation, and alleged cures to illegal portfolios, have been offered on darkweb marketplaces (DWMs) with important public health consequences. We aimed to profile key DWMs and vendors by presenting some in-depth case studies.

Methods: A non-systematic search for COVID-19 products was performed across 118 DWMs. Levels of activity, credibility, content, COVID-19 product listings, privacy protocols were among the features retrieved. Open web fora and other open web sources were also considered for further analysis of both functional and non functional DWMs. Collected data refers to the period between January 2020 and October 2021.

Results: A total of 42 relevant listings sold by 24 vendors across eight DWMs were identified. Four of these markets were active and well-established at the time of the study with good levels of credibility. COVID-19 products were listed alongside other marketplace content. Vendors had a trusted profile, communicated in English language and accepted payments in cryptocurrencies (Monero or Bitcoin). Their geographical location included the USA, Asia and Europe. While COVID-19 related goods were mostly available for regional supply, other listings were also shipped worldwide.

Interpretation: Findings emerging from this study rise important questions about the health safety of certain DWMs activities and encourage the development of targeted interventions to overcome such new and rapidly expanding public health threats.

Funding: CovSaf, National Research centre on Privacy, Harm Reduction and Adversarial Influence Online (REPHRAIN), Commonwealth Fund.

Keywords: COVID-19 Certificates; Darknet; Illicit goods; Public Health; Vaccines.