Journal
EPJ DATA SCIENCE
Volume 10, Issue 1, Pages -Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1140/epjds/s13688-021-00259-w
Keywords
COVID-19; Dark Web Marketplaces; Shadow economy; Bitcoin
Funding
- ESRC, UK Research and Innovation [ES/V00400X/1]
- U.S. National Science Foundation [1717062, 2039693]
- Direct For Computer & Info Scie & Enginr
- Division Of Computer and Network Systems [1717062] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
- Div Of Civil, Mechanical, & Manufact Inn
- Directorate For Engineering [2039693] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
- ESRC [ES/V00400X/1] Funding Source: UKRI
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The COVID-19 pandemic has reshaped the demand for goods and services worldwide, leading to an increase in shadow economy activities, particularly on dark web marketplaces. Research identified a significant number of listings related to COVID-19 products and medical frauds on these platforms, highlighting the evolution of the online shadow economy during the pandemic and the importance of continuous monitoring of DWMs.
The COVID-19 pandemic has reshaped the demand for goods and services worldwide. The combination of a public health emergency, economic distress, and misinformation-driven panic have pushed customers and vendors towards the shadow economy. In particular, dark web marketplaces (DWMs), commercial websites accessible via free software, have gained significant popularity. Here, we analyse 851,199 listings extracted from 30 DWMs between January 1, 2020 and November 16, 2020. We identify 788 listings directly related to COVID-19 products and monitor the temporal evolution of product categories including Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), medicines (e.g., hydroxyclorochine), and medical frauds. Finally, we compare trends in their temporal evolution with variations in public attention, as measured by Twitter posts and Wikipedia page visits. We reveal how the online shadow economy has evolved during the COVID-19 pandemic and highlight the importance of a continuous monitoring of DWMs, especially now that real vaccines are available and in short supply. We anticipate our analysis will be of interest both to researchers and public agencies focused on the protection of public health.
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