Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime News
Welcome to the Oregon FBI’s Tech Tuesday segment. Today: Building a digital defense against COVID-19 vaccine ID card scams.
The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center—or IC3.gov—has issued a warning about scams involving that oh-so-important piece of paper that millions of Americans are now carrying around in their wallets.
The FBI—along with our partners at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)—are seeing reports of individuals selling fake COVID-19 vaccination record cards and encouraging others to print fake cards at home. Fake vaccination record cards have been advertised on social media websites as well as ecommerce platforms and blogs.
Vaccination record cards are intended to provide recipients of the COVID-19 vaccine with information about the type of vaccine they received and when they may be able to receive a second dose of the vaccine. If you did not receive the vaccine, do not buy fake vaccine cards, do not make your own vaccine cards, and do not fill-in blank vaccination record cards with false information.
By misrepresenting yourself as vaccinated when entering schools, mass transit, workplaces, gyms, or places of worship, you put yourself and others around you at risk of contracting COVID-19. Additionally, the unauthorized use of an official government agency’s seal (such as HHS or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)) is a crime and may be punishable under federal law.
Because individuals may use fake vaccine cards to misrepresent themselves as vaccinated, we strongly encourage businesses, schools, places of worship, and government agencies to follow the CDC guidance and continue to maintain physical distancing and to use personal protective equipment.
If you did receive the vaccine, we also recommend you do not post photos of your vaccine card to social media. Your personal information could be stolen to commit fraud. More on that next week.
If you believe you are a victim of an online scam, you should report the incident to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov or call your FBI local office.