BEWARE OF FAKE NEGATIVE CORONAVIRUS REPORTS: EUROPOL WARNS

Mon 01 February 2021:

Fraudsters are producing and selling fake negative coronavirus test certificates in airports, stations and online around Europe in the latest example of opportunistic coronavirus-related crime, the EU’s law enforcement agency has said.

The warning from Europol comes after police busted several suspects selling forged certificates declaring people COVID-19 negative at airports in Britain and France as well as online and through mobile messaging chat groups in Spain and the Netherlands.

“Given the widespread technological means available, in the form of high-quality printers and different software, fraudsters are able to produce high-quality counterfeit, forged or fake documents … Member states should be vigilant,” Europol, the bloc’s police cooperation and coordination agency, said on Monday.

French police late last year broke up a forgery ring at Charles de Gaulle airport outside Paris selling fake certificates for between 150 and 300 euros, Europol said.

“Intelligence suggests that in the UK, fraudsters were caught selling bogus Covid-19 test documents for 100 pounds, faking the name of a genuine laboratory on the false certificates,” it added.

We’re #UnitedAgainstCoronavirus.

But it seems criminals will do anything to exploit the pandemic:

😷fake PPE
💉fake vaccines
and now…
🧪fake negative test results.

Out now: our latest update on counterfeit negative COVID-19 test certificates.https://t.co/HNl0ekF6Og

— Europol (@Europol) February 1, 2021

A recent negative PCR test is now required for travel to most countries. Forgery cases have been reported in the Netherlands, France, Spain and the UK, and a man was arrested at Luton airport this month on suspicion of selling counterfeit test results.

The Algemeen Dagblad newspaper reported that WhatsApp and Snapchat accounts in the Netherlands with names such as “Airplane Doctor” and “Digital Doctor” were routinely selling fake PCR test certificates, bearing the forged signatures of real doctors, for between €50 and €60, compared with €150 for an official test.