Security News > 2021 > November > Telegram channel admins who sold fake vaccine cards arrested
The Italian financial crime agency has announced the arrest of several individuals suspected of managing Telegram channels to promote fake vaccine certificates, aka 'Green Passes.
Although the sellers claimed they had accomplices in the health department who could add false entries in the national database, thus rendering the generated QR codes valid, their Green Passes were fake.
Those who paid in Bitcoin, Ethereum, PayPal, or Amazon gift cards, were all scammed, getting a fake card that would fail to pass any COVID-19 vaccination checks.
It can be used as an extortion lever, threatening the buyers of fake vaccination cards with public exposure if they don't pay a ransom.
This coercion is precisely what Russian scammers are doing, following a very similar modus operandi to their Italian counterparts, selling fake vaccine cards on Telegram channels for around $120. Instead of sending the promised cards to the buyers, they deliver threats to alert the authorities of the buyer's identity unless they receive an additional amount.
Purchasing fake vaccination certifications entails criminal liability for the buyers in most countries, so the chances of finding trouble one way or another are overwhelmingly high.