Category Ranking
98%
Total Visits
921
Avg Visit Duration
2 minutes
Citations
20
Article Abstract
Aims: The COVID-19 pandemic triggered a demand for vaccines, cures, and the need of related documentation for travel, work and other purposes. Our project aimed to identify the illicit availability of such products across the Dark Web Markets (DWMs).
Methods: A retrospective search for COVID-19 related products was carried out across 118 DWMs since the start of the pandemic (March 2020-October 2021). Data on vendors as well as advertised goods such as asking price, marketplace, listed date were collected and further validated through additional searches on the open web to verify the information relating to specific marketplaces. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used for data analysis.
Results: Forty-two listings of unlicenced COVID-19 cures and vaccination certificates were identified across 8 marketplaces sold by 25 vendors with significant variation in prices. The listings were found to be geographically specific and followed the progression of the pandemic in terms of availability. Correlations between vendor portfolios of COVID-19 products and variety of goods of other illicit nature such as illegal weaponry, medication/drugs of abuse also emerged from our analysis.
Conclusion: This study is one of the first attempts to identify the availability of unlicenced COVID-19 products on DWMs. The easy accessibility to vaccines, fake test certificates and hypothetical/illegal cures poses serious health risks to (potential) buyers due to the uncontrolled nature of such products. It also exposes buyers to an unwanted contact with vendors selling a variety of other dangerous illicit goods. Further monitoring and regulatory responses should be implemented to protect the health and safety of citizens especially at times of global crisis.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10275425 | PMC |
| http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0287231 | PLOS |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Roman Catholic Religious Affiliation and Reactions to the Initial Stage of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Poland.
J Relig Health
September 2025
Center for Climate Action and Social Transformations (4CAST) Institute of Psychology, SWPS University, Warsaw, Poland.
The present study examined responses to COVID-19 at the beginning of the pandemic, April 2020, among a representative sample of 880 Poles. Participants described their religious beliefs, their emotional reactions to the pandemic, the changes they had made in their behavior since the onset of the pandemic, and their political orientation (left-right). Roman Catholics felt more threatened by the pandemic than non-believers, and Catholics reacted more strongly to the pandemic than non-believers in terms of feeling scared, paralyzed by fear, panicked, fearful, sad, woebegone, and lost, whereas there were no such differences on other emotional reactions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRemote and digital services in UK general practice 2021-2023: the Remote by Default 2 longitudinal qualitative study synopsis.
Health Soc Care Deliv Res
September 2025
Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Background: Remote services (in which the patient and staff member are not physically colocated) and digital services (in which a patient encounter is digitally mediated in some way) were introduced extensively when the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020. We undertook a longitudinal qualitative study of the introduction, embedding, evolution and abandonment of remote and digital innovations in United Kingdom general practice. This synoptic paper summarises study design, methods, key findings, outputs and impacts to date.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPublic Awareness and Feasibility of Social Marketing for Cholangiocarcinoma Prevention Through Multi-channel Media in Thailand: Lessons for Emerging Diseases.
J Cancer Educ
September 2025
Department of Health Sciences, Faculty of Public Health, Ubon Ratchathani Rajabhat University, Ubon Ratchathani, 34000, Thailand.
Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) remains a major public health concern in Thailand, particularly in areas endemic for Opisthorchis viverrini infection. During the period of 2020-2022, there was a rapid shift in public communication behaviors that created new opportunities to promote health education through diverse media channels. This study aimed to assess public awareness of CCA prevention and explore the feasibility of applying social marketing strategies during a time of health crisis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFuture-Proofing European Pharmaceutical Regulatory and Market Access Practices Based on EU Learnings from the COVID-19 Pandemic: Insights from Multi-Stakeholder Interviews.
Ther Innov Regul Sci
September 2025
Clinical Pharmacology and Pharmacotherapy, Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Introduction: During the COVID-19 pandemic, regulatory and market access actions were taken to expedite the market entry of COVID-19 medicines. This study aims to (i) capture multi-stakeholder views on these actions, and (ii) provide recommendations for future-proofing routine and health-emergency frameworks.
Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with policy makers/advisors (i.
A Safe and Broad-spectrum SARS-CoV-2 mRNA Vaccine with a New Delivery System for In-situ Expression.
Virol Sin
September 2025
State Key Laboratory of Virology and Biosafety, RNA Institute, College of Life Sciences and Frontier Science Center for Immunology and Metabolism, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, China; Institute for Vaccine Research at Animal Bio-safety Level Ⅲ Laboratory, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430071, China.
Since the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 in late 2019, the cumulative number of confirmed cases worldwide has surpassed 778 million, and the number of deaths has exceeded 7 million, posing a significant threat to human life and health while inflicting enormous losses on the global economy. At the stage where sequential immunization is recommended, there is a pressing demand for mRNA vaccines that can be rapidly adapted to new sequences, are easy to industrialize, and exhibit high safety and effectiveness. We developed a lipid nanoparticle (LNP) system, designated as WNP, which facilitates essentially in situ expression at the injection site and results in lower levels of pro-inflammatory factors in the liver, thus enhancing its safety compared to liver-targeted alternatives.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF