Fake COVID-19 Vaccine Card Scam In Virginia, DC: What To Know

WASHINGTON, DC — A new scam tied to the coronavirus pandemic is targeting Virginia and District of Columbia residents online, and the jurisdictions' top legal officials are warning constituents.

Some people may be tempted to buy fake COVID-19 vaccination record cards to avoid getting the vaccine, but the FBI warns that it's illegal, as well as dangerous. In some cases, thieves are using the images people have posted on social media of their Centers for Disease Control-issued vaccinations cards to sell them online.

Virginia Attorney Mark Herring said legitimate vaccination cards are given by health-care providers when they administer the vaccine. People who buy fake cards can have their own information added to the card or add it in themselves, so it appears they have been vaccinated when they have not.

These deceptive cards threaten the health of communities, slow progress in getting people protected from the virus, and violate many state laws, he said.

“Getting vaccinated is one of the most important things a Virginian can do to help us all get back to normal and get the COVID pandemic under control,” Herring said. “Individuals who purchase fraudulent vaccine cards and go out into our communities pretending to be vaccinated could be detrimental to our efforts to curb the pandemic and put the safety of others at risk. It’s important that these companies and platforms crack down on the sale of these fake vaccination cards to make sure our communities are safe, and we remain on the right track in combating the COVID pandemic.”

The FBI has begun investigating online retailers and individuals touting fake vaccination cards for sale, as well as posts encouraging people to print their own cards at home, according to a statement. In addition to violating federal law, the fake cards may put people's health ask risk if an unvaccinated person misrepresents themselves as having protection against the coronavirus.

"When entering schools, mass transit, workplaces, gyms, or places of worship, you put yourself and others around you at risk of contracting COVID-19," the FBI said.

Listings for fake or blank vaccination cards bearing the CDC logo have popped up on sites such as Twitter, eBay and Shopify. More than two dozen attorneys general from across the United States sent a letter to the retailers April 1 asking for immediate action from the platforms to prevent them from being used as a "vehicle to commit these fraudulent deceptive acts that harm our communities."

Racine, Herring and 44 other state attorneys general recently issued a letter to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, Shopify CEO Tobias Lütke, and eBay CEO Jamie Iannone regarding the fake vaccination cards being marketed on their platforms.

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In the letter, the attorneys general called on the tech companies to crack down on the marketing of misinformation and fake vaccination cards.

"We are deeply concerned about this use of your platforms to spread false and misleading information regarding COVID vaccines," the letter reads. "The false and deceptive marketing and sales of fake COVID vaccine cards threatens the health of our communities, slows progress in getting our residents protected from the virus, and are a violation of the laws of many states."

The companies have said any such postings violate their sites' terms of service and are actively being removed, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

A Twitter spokesperson told the paper it prioritizes the "removal of high-severity violations that could potentially cause real-world harm" including misleading information about COVID-19.

A Shopify spokesman told the Chronicle the site has been "proactively monitoring" for any illegal sale of COVID-19 vaccines cards since February and has acted swiftly to remove them.

An eBay spokeswoman also told the paper it has been working with the Food and Drug Administration to monitor its site for listings involving the COVID-19 vaccines and have removed roughly 50 million listings that violated the company's policies.