The European Union Agency for Law Enforcement (EUROPOL) has issued a warning to the public of fraudulent COVID-19 test results being sold in various locations in Europe, according to a public warning published by Europol.
According to the warning, the following places have already seen instances of fraudulent negative COVID-19 test results for sale:
- Charles de Gualle Airport in Paris, France; a group of forgers was dismantled after they were found to be selling negative test results to passengers traveling abroad.
- in Spain, a group of fraudsters was apprehended and arrested by Spanish national police for selling fake negative test results for €40.
- In the UK, another group of fraudsters was arrested for selling fraudulent COVID-19 documents for £100.
According to the warning, there is a strong correlation between fraudulent COVID-19 documents being required in order to travel anywhere, and the creation and sale of fake documents to mimic the legal ones. Put more simply, it is very likely that the new laws requiring proof of a negative COVID-19 test is the main contributing factor to motivate enterprising fraudsters to make fake documents and sell them to the public.
“As long as travel restrictions remain in place due to the pandemic, it is very likely that criminals will seize the opportunity of producing and selling fake COVID-19 test certificates, warns a Europol Early Warning Notification published today,” the warning reads.
The Europol warning also makes it clear that the amount of high-quality technology available to these fraudsters makes it somewhat easy to create very high-quality fraudulent documents that can be sold to the public and accepted by authorities.
“Given the widespread technological means available, in the form of high-quality printers and different software, fraudsters are able to produce high-quality c
counterfeit, forged or fake documents,” the warning reads.
Although there have been three instances mentioned here, there are very likely many more fraudsters in Europe putting their fake documents up for sale for people to travel, and they will continue to do so until these documents are no longer required by governments.
To read more about Europol and their public warnings regarding false negative COVID-19 test for sale, or any other matter handled by the agency, click this link.
