There has been a global boom in the black market for fake vaccine certificates on Telegram, following US President Biden’s vaccine mandate announcements last week.
This is according to Check Point Research (CPR), which also fins that the black market for fake vaccine certificates has expanded to serve 28 countries, nine of which are new. They now include Austria, Brazil, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Portugal, Singapore, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE)
Globally, prices for a fake certificate range from $85 to $200. Following Biden’s vaccine mandate announcement, the price for the CDC vaccine card in the US doubled, from $100 to $200.
On August 10, CPR saw about 1 000 vendors on Telegram, a number that has had a 10-times increase to 10 000 vendors claiming to offer fake vaccine certificates.
The number of subscribers has similarly boomed.
On Telegram, the vendors who sell fake vaccine certificates organise themselves in groups, each with a subscriber base that indicates demand.
Prior to Biden’s announcement, CPR observed groups having around 25 000 subscribers. Biden’s announcement resulted in an immediate acceleration in the number of subscribers and followers, with some groups even peaking at a follower size as large as 300 000, a number not previously seen.
CPR has also seen that sellers are using bots to sell more. For example, in Austria, CPR found a Telegram bot that creates fake certificates for free. All one needs to do is fill in the relevant details and a .pdf file will be shared with them containing all their filled data.
Oded Vanunu, head of products vulnerabilities research at Check Point Software, comments: “We’ve been studying the black market for fraudulent coronavirus services all year.
“In January, the black market took place mostly on the Darknet, where one needed special software to access it. Back then, the market was likely designed for dealers, people who can distribute the fake goods in mass quantities within specific geographies.
“Over the past nine months, we witnessed a mass consumerisation of the black market by a macro-shift of the black market to Telegram.
“Telegram appeals to vendors by its anonymity, reach and scale,” Vanunu adds. “When the Biden White House announced further vaccination guidelines, CPR took a fresh look at the black market since our last update on 10 August 2021.
“The growth of the black market for fake vaccination cards has been exponential. The price for a fake CDC card has doubled. The reach of the black market expanded to include nine other countries. We estimate that the number of sellers on this back market have gone up by 10x. The number of subscribers of sellers, who organize themselves in Telegram groups, has grown by a multiple of 12.
“Our expectation is that the black market for fake coronavirus vaccination cards will continue to thrive as more policy requiring vaccination proof gets rolled out.”
Price for given country
| Country | Price |
| Australia
|
110AUD |
| Austria
|
150€ |
| Brazil
|
$80 |
| Canada
|
120$ |
| Cyprus
|
150€ |
| Finland
|
150€ |
| France
|
150€ |
| Greece
|
150€ |
| India
|
75$ |
| Indonesia
|
80-100$ |
| Ireland
|
150€ |
| Italy
|
150€ |
| Latvia
|
150 – 200€ |
| Lithuania
|
150€ |
| Malta
|
150€ |
| Netherlands
|
150€ |
| Poland
|
150€ |
| Portugal
|
150€ |
| Romania
|
150€ |
| Singapore | 250€ |
| Spain
|
150€ |
| Sweden
|
150€ |
| Switzerland
|
150€ |
| Thailand
|
80$ |
| UK
|
100-150€ |
| Ukraine
|
150€ |
| United Emirates
|
$200 |
| US
|
$150 – $200 |
Changes in the black market since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic
| Date of report | What’s on sale | Volume of advertisement | Countries in which it was sold | Selling and distribution platform | Prices |
| December 2020 | Covid-19 Vaccines | A few hundreds | Mostly US sellers | Darknet | $250 |
| March 2021 | Forged negative COVID-19 test results and fake vaccine certificates | Darknet advertisements for COVID-19 vaccines have increased by over 300% in past three months | Sellers based in the U.S. and European countries including France, Germany, Russia and Spain | Darknet and hacking forums | $135-$150 for fake vaccination certificate |
| August 2021 | Fake ‘vaccine passport’ certificates: EU Digital COVID certificate, CDC and NHS Covid vaccine cards and fake PCR COVID-19 Tests | Volume of advertisement groups and groups sizes publishing sellers multiplied by hundreds percent since the beginning of 2021 | Fake certificates from all around the world, where the majority are coming from Europe, countries such as France, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands and Switzerland related certifications. | Darknet and Telegram groups | $100-120 for fake vaccination certificate |
| September 2021 | Fake ‘vaccine passport’ certificates: EU Digital COVID certificate, CDC and NHS Covid vaccine cards and fake PCR COVID-19 Tests | Increase in the number of offers by 300% in the period from Jan 2021 to March-April,
Mostly attributed to changes in EU countries towards the vaccine. Now we see the same effect happening in groups related to the CDC / USA vaccination certificates |
Fake certificates from all around the world including: Australia, Brazil, Cyprus, Finland, India, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Portugal, Poland, Romania, Thailand, UAE, UK, Ukraine and the US. | Telegram Groups and bots | Approx. $100 for fake certificate |