Latest news about Bitcoin and all cryptocurrencies. Your daily crypto news habit.
Monopoly Market has announced it will ban vendors who use the COVID-19 pandemic as a marketing tool.
Dark web marketplace, Monopoly Market, has taken a stand against scammers claiming to sell cures and treatments for COVID-19 on its platform.
On other darknet platforms, listings are rife with coronavirus keywords â with vendors selling everything from narcotic cocktails marketed as âcoronavirus vaccines,â to coronavirus-infected blood and saliva.
Monopoly Market to ban vendors using coronavirus as âmarketing toolâ
On April 2, dark web journalist, Eileen Ormsby, tweeted a screenshot posted by Monopoly Marketâs operator that threatened permanent bans against vendors âcaught flogging goods as a âcureâ to Coronavirus.â
âWe have class here,â the post states.âYou do not, under any circumstances use COVID-19 as a marketing tool. No Magical Cures, no silly fucking mask selling, toilet paper selling. None of that bullshit.â Monopoly Market also warns buyers:
âYou are about to ingest drugs from a stranger on the internet â under no circumstances should you trust any vendor that is using COVID-10 as a marketing tool to peddle tangle/already questionable goods.â
Darknet markets rife with coronavirus listings
While Monopoly seeks to stamp out listings targeting coronavirus, vendors on other platforms are competing to capitalize on the publicâs fears.
In addition to fake coronavirus antidotes and vaccines priced for hundreds of dollars, packs of surgical and N95 masks are being sold worldwide for an exorbitant premium.Â
President Donald Trumpâs recent statements concerning the potential for the drugs chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine have resulted in a similar emergence of listings for the anti-malarial drugs â despite experts warning that there is an absence of peer-reviewed evidence demonstrating their effectiveness in treating or preventing COVID-19.
A report published by The Independent shows listings for boxes of chloroquine priced at $200 each.
Some dark web entities push back against exploiting COVID-19
On March 19, cyber threat research company Digital Shadows published a report examining the reactions from the dark web community to the coronavirus pandemic.
The report concluded that while many cybercriminals have sought to âcapitalize on fear and uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic,â the firm also âobserved some atypical discussions from users,â â including âdiscouraging other users from profiting off the pandemic,â âexpressing solidarity with countries affected,â and âproviding health and safety information.â
On March 18, cybersecurity publication, BleepingComputer, reported that only two of seven ransomware operators contacted by the outlet had stated that they would not target hospitals during the coronavirus pandemic.Â
This past week, Cointelegraph reported that IT professionals from 65 countries had banded together to fight ransomware targeting hospitals.
Disclaimer
The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not reflect the views of Bitcoin Insider. Every investment and trading move involves risk - this is especially true for cryptocurrencies given their volatility. We strongly advise our readers to conduct their own research when making a decision.