The BBC found that scammers in the UK, with their Facebook posts, directed those who did not have the vaccine to sites that said they were selling fake vaccine certificates on the deep internet.
It is necessary to document that you have been vaccinated in order to enter some places in the UK or to avoid quarantine when returning from abroad.
However, postings of those who sell fake certificates for those who are not vaccinated can be found on Facebook.
Facebook officials say they remove such content “when they find it”.
The BBC found some ads and comments on Facebook that Covid vaccine certificates were sold to non-vaccinated people.
The advertisements stated that these certificates would help people maintain their jobs, participate in various activities and travel.
Some of these posts were removed by Facebook within a few days, but the BBC found other posts and comments.
Most of them were also removed within 24 hours. However, later on, similar ones appeared again on the same pages.
The BBC has determined that some Facebook posts are trying to redirect unvaccinated people to channels that promise to sell Covid certificates through the encrypted messaging app Telegram.
Jonathan Benton, the director of the cyber investigation company called Intelligent Sanctuary, states that there are fake pass permits, certificates, cards and vaccination cards on the internet, and some of them even ask you which vaccine you want to be written on the card.
Benton, a former detective, notes that some of the cards sold online are real cards filled with false information, while others are completely fake documents.
Covid certificates are sold on the deep web, just like drugs, weapons and stolen goods. Many sellers claim to sell documents from countries including the USA and European Union members.
One of the vendors stated that he could issue vaccination certificates from 22 countries, including Portugal, France, Greece, Spain, Australia, Latvia, Morocco and the UK.
They claim that they sell not only paper documents but also Covid applications containing electronic codes, because they can process this information into the database through their acquaintances working in healthcare services.
“Unfortunately, that claim sounds right,” Benton says.
According to the former detective, it is difficult to know who was behind the sales, but at a time when online criminals are on the rise, it is possible that they are being run by organized crime syndicates.
‘Impossible to stop’
During the seven-month survey of the BBC and cybersecurity company Checkpoint, covering the period between December 2020 and July 2021, the number of Telegram channels selling vaccination certificates in multiple languages increased from less than ten initially to more than a thousand.
A Telegram channel that claims British Health Services and the European Union are selling Covid passports has amassed more than 180,000 subscribers since 14 December.
Jonathan Benton says it’s impossible to stop forgery of documents.
“The sites we reviewed also sell illegal drugs, firearms, and other prohibited materials. To be honest, law enforcement has a hard time tracking them down and figuring out who’s behind them. I don’t think it’s possible to get that under control,” he says.
Lucy Moreton of the ISU union, which represents border, immigration and customs workers in the UK, said there have been fake documents since the official vaccination documents came out.
Moreton said, “We were seeing a significant amount of forged documents at the border checks. Documents like this were coming our way every day. “There is no reason to think that this situation has changed,” he said.
In England, the opposition Labor Party reported that much more stringent measures should be taken against crimes committed over the internet, and called on the Ministry of the Interior to prevent a vacuum in the Covid control systems at the borders due to fake documents.
Meta company, which owns Facebook, also emphasized that the sale of medical documents on Facebook pages is prohibited, even if it is real, and stated that they will continue to remove such content when they find it.