MELBOURNE, July 6 (Xinhua) -- Australian police badges are being sold on the dark web, it has been revealed.
The underground website, which has not been identified, is offering two "genuine" Tasmanian police badges for 1,500 U.S. dollars each.
The discovery of the badges for sale came just days after the healthcare details of millions of Australians were found for sale on a similar website.
The listing of the badges were described as "Tasmania Police identification (ID) wallet and badge. Genuine. As photographed."
Potential buyers of the badges were asked by the vendor to provide the name, photo and desire rank they want to be placed on the ID card.
A police spokesperson told Australian media that "the item on the website does appear to be a very similar likeness to the Tasmania Police badge."
They went on to say that having a police uniform or identification without authorization was illegal.
"Anyone who suspects a person of impersonating a police officer should ask to see their warrant card which contains photographic identification," they said.
While neither of the Tasmanian badges have been sold, reviews on the vendor's profile revealed they had previously sold a Victoria Police badge and ID wallet for 1,509 U.S. dollars and an Australian Federal Police (AFP) ID card for 250 U.S. dollars.
"Good quality, going to order more," the buyer of the AFP card wrote as feedback.
Nigel Phair, a cyber-security expert from the Center for Internet Safety, said the reliability of the feedback on dark web sites was unclear.
"What we don't know ... is whether it's actually bona fide feedback or they've just done it themselves," Phair said.
"The internet is full of scammers generally. When you get into the area where you get talking with criminals your likelihood of getting scammed increases exponentially."
