Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI Crime News (b)

Welcome to the Oregon FBI’s Tech Tuesday segment. Today: Building a digital defense against fake COVID-19 vaccine ID cards.

The Delta variant is causing many Oregon governments, schools, and businesses to issue new mandates concerning vaccines, testing, and mask-wearing. While we all learn to navigate this new world, one thing is clear: more and more of us will be asked to prove that we are vaccinated. For some people, their employer may require it. For others, it may be the neighborhood restaurant or bar owner who wants to know your status before you are allowed to enter. At this point, that vaccination card you received when you got your shots is like gold. It’s not surprising that scammers are trying to make a buck on the situation by creating fraudulent cards… but there is also concern that unvaccinated people are looking to skirt the rules with unauthorized fakes.

The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center—or IC3.gov—issued a warning about this problem earlier this year. With the virus resurgence, though, it is time for a refresher. 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, you need to know that the unauthorized use of a government agency’s seal is a violation of federal law. This includes the seals for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 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 CDC guidance when it comes to distancing, masking, and vaccinations.

If you believe 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.

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI Crime News (b)

A search warrant and cooperation from inside the practice showed more evidence. But investigators needed proof Perwaiz was willfully lying to his patients.

They found it when a young woman in her early 20s went to Perwaiz for care in 2019. He told her she had uterine fibroids that needed to be removed immediately. But the staff in Perwaiz’s practice knew the woman’s ultrasound was normal.

So, investigators from the FBI and Defense Criminal Investigative Service approached the patient. Would she be willing to record her next phone call with Perwaiz?

While secretly being taped, Perwaiz boldly lied to his patient, telling her she had “big” tumors that needed to come out through abdominal surgery.

“He was great at exploiting patients,” Maxwell said. “He used fear of cancer, or, in other cases, fear of infertility to convince them to go through with surgery.”

Maxwell noted that Perwaiz often exploited the same woman multiple times, telling her something was concerning in her first surgery, and he needed to do more surgeries.

One helpful aspect of a health care fraud investigation is that insurance providers require paperwork to reimburse medical providers. To get reimbursed, Perwaiz created duplicate records. One was a patient’s actual medical record, and the other was a false one claiming the need for surgery—essentially, a detailed paper trail of the crime. In one case, Perwaiz forgot to shred the real medical record, another strong piece of evidence.

A jury found Perwaiz guilty on 52 counts of health care fraud in November 2020. In May 2021, he was sentenced to 59 years in prison. Prosecutors proved his crimes happened at least between 2010 and 2019, but women came forward from decades ago claiming victimization by Perwaiz. Numerous victims testified at trial to the harm Perwaiz had caused them.

The case was a rewarding one for the investigative team, knowing that Perwaiz did physical and emotional harm to dozens of women.

“It’s impossible not to get emotional when you hear these women’s stories. It’s horrible what he did to them,” Maxwell said. “It’s a shame he got away with this for so long, but knowing he will never touch another woman is a huge sense of accomplishment.”

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI Crime News (b)

NASHVILLE, TN—The FBI Nashville Resident Agency and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee are encouraging the public to report hate crimes.

“Investigating hate crimes is the highest priority of the FBI’s Civil Rights program due to the devastating impact they have on families and communities,” said Douglas M. Korneski, special agent in charge of the Memphis Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. “The FBI is committed to protecting the civil rights of all people, and we will aggressively pursue those who commit criminal offenses based on bias.”

“Violent acts motivated by hate have no place in our society,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Mary Jane Stewart for the Middle District of Tennessee. “Every person has the right to live without fear of violence or intimidation and we will continue to hold those accountable whose hate-filled aggression violates the civil rights of another individual.”

Defining a Hate Crime

The FBI defines a hate crime as a “criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offender’s bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity.”

How to Report

Anyone who has been the victim of a hate crime, or anyone who has witnessed a hate crime, is encouraged to report this information to the FBI by calling 1-800-CALL-FBI or submitting a tip online at tips.fbi.gov. Information may be reported anonymously.

Help us fight hate in our communities together. To learn more about hate crimes, visit https://www.fbi.gov/investigate/civil-rights/hate-crimes and https://www.justice.gov/hatecrimes.