The sale of fake “vaccine passports” is causing headaches for European officials. The Italian authorities recently had to block dozens of social network accounts who were advertising the sale of fake vaccination certificates.
It is worth mentioning that, according to the results of the investigation, thousands of people in Italy are willing to spend money to own this fake certificate. In Russia, Moscow police last month also busted 32 cases of the sale of fake certificates. This situation has spread to other regions, such as the US and Asia.
Targeting people who want to go to entertainment and tourist destinations but do not want to be vaccinated, services that sell fake “vaccine passports” have sprung up like mushrooms. With just a few simple steps on the Internet, customers can get fake vaccine passports in their hands, hoping to freely participate in social activities.
A representative of the cyber intelligence company Cyble said that it is the needs of the people that have created the opportunity for hundreds of websites to be born, offering fake “vaccine passports” at cheap prices. Even more dangerously, selling fake vaccination certificates has appeared on more common websites and also on e-commerce platforms.
Ever since the idea of “vaccine passports” was launched, there have been many opinions about its advantages and disadvantages. It is said that it is a crime to make false statements about vaccination and participate in activities in high-risk environments, and possibly unintentionally spread the disease as a result.
In addition to the epidemiological risk, buying and selling fake vaccination certificates also creates “opportunities” for hackers to steal personal information and carry out fraudulent activities.
Many countries have stepped up their crackdown on criminal networks and tightened the handling of the use of fake vaccination certificates. However, the awareness of each person is the most important factor.
The amount of money needed to own a fake certificate is not large, but behind that behaviour, the price tthe buyer and the community has to pay is high. The COVID-19 epidemic is still unpredictable and fake “vaccine passports” are undoubtedly hindering global anti-epidemic efforts.
