Security News > 2021 > May > Telegram Fraudsters Ramp Up Forged COVID-19 Vaccine Card Sales

Telegram groups are being abused by fraudsters peddling fake COVID-19 vaccination cards to the unvaccinated and anti-vaxxer communities, according to researchers.

"When it became a bigger possibility of being able to travel, or when certain events began to require proof of vaccination, we started to see people posting vaccine cards for sale or soliciting vaccine cards for themselves," she told Threatpost in an interview.

"It's likely that they are either pulling vaccine batch numbers and names from people who have publicly posted pictures of their vaccine card to social media, or from some kind of phishing source," Allen explained.

The fake news is then followed by an exhortation to group members to benefit from the freedom that being vaccinated gives people, without having to actually take the jab - by of course, buying a fake card.

Many of the fraudsters will post examples inside their Telegram groups of the cards that they have ready to sell, which are indistinguishable from the genuine article.

"But the cards are really ramping up, just for that purpose of being able to participate in the things that increase mobility or attending events that a vaccine card will give you access to.

News URL

https://threatpost.com/telegram-forged-covid-19-vaccine-cards/166093/