Such a fake site was already mentioned on social media, before being suspended.
The fake website was noticed first time on January 30 by a Twitter user:
Another user posted a day later on a forum from the Netherlands:
Damn it, you now just see spam links appearing on fake news articles about a vaccine on reddit.
vaccine-coronavirus.com _O-
What a scam : D
From the fake website:
We team of medicine scientist from Australian Medical University.
Our team created first vaccine for Novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV)
How to buy Vaccine for Novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) ?
1
Payment
First choose a vaccine.
Then make payment. Send info about your transaction and provide your address.
2
Shipping
We provide first class fast avia shipping.
5-10 Days shipping time to anywhere in the world.
3
Get your order
Get your order on post. The vaccine is not prohibited / restricted product in any country.
Contact details on the fake website:
Address:
Office 695
Special Laboratory 51
The Australian National University, Canberra
E-mail:
orders@vaccine-coronavirus.com
Ryan Cooper, a staff writer and fact-checker for Lead Stories posted a hoax alert about the fake website on February 3th:
https://hoax-alert.leadstories.com/3471 ... virus.html:
The post referred to Australian Medical University, but there is no such institution. The closest-named place is Australian National University, and there was a fictitious Canberra address listed at the bottom of the site.
The site took orders in Bitcoin for vaccine kits. However, buyers would be left without anything valid to show for their purchase. There is no known vaccine for the current coronavirus centered in Wuhan, China, which has killed at least 361 people as of February 3, 2020, according to The New York Times.
Researchers have said it could take months before they could create a vaccine that is safe to be administered in humans.
From the domain registration:
Domain name: vaccine-coronavirus.com
Updated Date: 2020-02-02
Creation Date: 2020-01-29
Registrar Registration Expiration Date: 2021-01-29
Registrar: NAMECHEAP INC
Reseller: NAMECHEAP INC
Domain Status: clientHold
Domain Status: addPeriod
Registry Registrant ID:
Registrant Name: MacDu Makar
Registrant Street: 241 City Road Islington
Registrant City: London
Registrant State/Province: London
Registrant Postal Code: EC1V 1JQ
Registrant Country: GB
Registrant Phone: +44.442073366411
Registrant Email: xc42tf@getnada.com
This is what the fake website was looking like:
