Public interest in this drug has been sparked by repeated comments from US President Donald Trump about the drug’s potential, despite the absence of regulator approval for its use.Īnd so we have started to see listings for chloroquine on darknet markets. However there has been anecdotal evidence that existing drugs such as chloroquine, a malaria treatment, could be an effective treatment for COVID-19. However none have yet to be proved effective. The pandemic has of course created huge interest in potential COVID-19 treatments, with a number of therapeutics and vaccines in development. The listing below offers “COVID-19 test strips”, starting at $92 each.Ĭ oronavirus tests for sale on a darknet market Coronavirus “Cures” And so darknet market vendors have once again stepped in to exploit the opportunity. The lack of widespread testing capabilities has been cited as a key reason why certain countries have been particularly hard-hit.
![darknet screeny darknet screeny](http://moraldy.com/screenshots/img/blackmarket07.jpg)
The operator of this site claims to be a European wholesaler for hospitals, but believes that “ Everybody need a chance to get a Mask for protection - Not only medical employees!”.Ī dedicated darknet site offering N95 masks for sale DiagnosticsĪnother critical shortage during the epidemic has been for coronavirus diagnostics. Many have previously sold narcotics and other illicit goods and services, and have now turned to masks as an additional revenue stream.īeyond the usual dark marketplaces, a new online shop has launched - dedicated to the sale of masks. However what this does reveal is that many of the mask vendors are established, well-reviewed sellers. Few reviews have been posted for masks, due to the short period of time that they have been on sale. Marketplaces therefore employ vendor reputation systems so that buyers can review their purchases and provide useful insights to future buyers. Of course with all darknet market listings posted by pseudonymous vendors, there is a chance that they are fraudulent, and that buyers don’t end up getting what they paid for. Two listings offering bulk N95 masks for purchase, on a darknet market site Compare this to the prices charged by vendors on legitimate marketplaces such as Amazon or eBay, where N95 masks have been listed for sale for upwards of $10 each. The listings shown below offer N95s in bulk at around $1.75 per mask - a surprisingly low mark-up on retail prices. Usually priced at less than $1 each, these masks have been in very short supply and their sale for non-medical use has been restricted. Hundreds of listings have recently appeared on darknet markets for N95 respirator masks. Over the past few weeks they have begun to exploit the opportunities presented by the coronavirus pandemic. These vendors are opportunistic, jumping on any opportunity to supply goods that are difficult to obtain elsewhere. Vendors on these sites can post listings for everything from narcotics to stolen credit cards and hacking tools, with payment accepted exclusively in crypto-assets.
![darknet screeny darknet screeny](https://www.webhostingsecretrevealed.net/wp-content/uploads/tor-welcome-page.jpg)
Key to this is monitoring the rapidly-evolving use of darknet markets, e-commerce platforms that facilitate the trade of various illicit goods and services.
![darknet screeny darknet screeny](http://www.happies.fr/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/gun-dark-net.png)
At Elliptic, our data team work constantly to gather the latest intelligence on the illicit use of crypto-assets.