Counterfeit and stolen vaccine cards have been popping up on online retailer sites like Etsy, Facebook and eBay, according to an April 8 article published by The New York Times.
The cards are printed on card stock, selling from $20 to $60 each. Some sellers charge extra for laminated copies, while others offer discounts if the cards are purchased in bundles.
Six things to know about the fake vaccine cards:
- Hundreds of online stores selling the fake cards were found, and many stores openly advertise their illegal products, said Saoud Khalifah, founder of Fakespot, a company offering artificial intelligence tools to detect fake reviews and information online.
- Selling fake vaccine cards could break federal laws that forbid copying the CDC logo. If the cards are stolen and filled out with false numbers, they would also violate identity theft laws, legal experts said.
- The CDC said it's aware of the fake vaccine cards and asked people not to share images of their vaccine cards on social media.
- Forty-five state attorneys general called on Twitter, Shopify and eBay to halt the sale of false vaccine cards.
- Facebook, Twitter, eBay, Shopify and Etsy said the online shops violated their rules and they were removing posts advertising the items.
- Some people who purchased the vaccine cards were opposed to the COVID-19 vaccines. Others bought them to trick pharmacists into giving them a vaccine that is part of the two-shot regimen. The vaccine card's false dates make it appear as if the person needs their second dose soon to jump in pharmacy and state prioritization lines.