An Irish national is selling counterfeit COVID-19 vaccine passes for persons who haven’t completed their vaccination process yet, but who wish to travel without being subject to Coronavirus-related restrictions.
According to the Irish Times, the person selling these fake passes is believed to be a drug dealer. He is asking for up to €350 for each pass that is offered through the dark web, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
Just like the original type of the vaccination pass, the certificate bought from this person contains a unique QR code that shows the holder’s name when it is scanned. Apart from the digital version, a printed Irish HSE pass is also issued, which can’t be told apart from the original form of the document.
Consequently, this means that all those who have bought a fake pass are currently able to travel freely and access different indoor spaces as these certificates are likely to be functional and will remain so until the authorities detect them.
Except for the vaccination pass, the other two types of certificates that fall under the COVID-19 pass – recovery certificates and negative test results – also can be bought on the dark web.
Soon after the national police service of the Republic of Ireland found out about these illegal actions, the country’s authorities started to work on a solution that would put an end to these activities. In addition, they called on the citizens of the country to cooperate with the authorities as well as follow the health guidelines and regulations.
Apart from Ireland, similar other illegal activities have also been detected in other countries. Earlier this month, the EU authorities started an investigation after it was found out that the COVID-19 Digital Certificates gateway had been hacked.
Several codes of fake COVID passes circulated around the internet after the digital key that is used to sign and verify the EU Digital COVID-19 Certificate was leaked. Those who used the official system through using illegal methods issued certificates in the names of two fictitious characters and another one for the founder of the Nazi party, Adolf Hitler.
The code of the last one was circulating for days through different social media platforms. When the code was scanned on Italy’s Verifica C19 app, people were able to see that the name of the certificate was ‘Hitler Adolf’ and included his birthdate.
These actions have been highly condemned by the EU authorities, who said that such illegal activities might cause inconveniences for those who have been vaccinated and have obtained the certificate from the official authorities.
First published at: https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/
