Two Women Charged in Fake COVID Vaccination Card Scam

3 years ago 351
By Robert Preidt and Robin Foster
HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 1, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- A pistillate who calls herself AntiVaxMomma connected societal media faces a fig of charges for selling fake COVID-19 vaccination cards, New York prosecutors said Tuesday.

They allege that Jasmine Clifford, of Lyndhurst, N.J., sold astir 250 fake vaccination cards via her Instagram relationship successful caller months, the Associated Press reported.

Clifford provided the bogus cards for $200 each to radical successful the New York City area, including immoderate employees of hospitals and nursing homes, according to prosecutors.

They besides said that for an other $250, Clifford's alleged co-conspirator, Nadayza Barkley, of Bellport, L.I., entered a fake paper buyer's sanction into a New York State vaccination database utilized to corroborate vaccine presumption astatine venues specified arsenic sporting events and concerts, the AP reported.

Barkley entered astatine slightest 10 names into the state's vaccine database portion moving astatine a Patchogue aesculapian clinic, according to prosecutors.

Clifford was charged with offering a mendacious instrument, transgression possession of a forged instrumentality and conspiracy, and Barkley was charged with offering a mendacious instrumentality and conspiracy.

Thirteen alleged buyers of the fake cards were besides charged, the AP reported.

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. called connected Facebook, which owns Instagram, and different tech companies to ace down connected vaccine paper scams, saying successful a statement that "the stakes are excessively precocious to tackle fake vaccination cards with whack-a-mole prosecutions."

Facebook said that it prohibits anyone from buying oregon selling COVID-19 vaccine cards and that it removed Clifford's relationship successful aboriginal August for breaking its rules.

"We volition reappraisal immoderate different accounts that mightiness beryllium doing the aforesaid thing," the institution said successful a written statement. "We admit the DA's enactment connected this substance and volition region this contented whenever we find it."

The merchantability of fake vaccine cards is simply a increasing interest arsenic much places necessitate impervious of vaccination to work, devour successful restaurants, and enactment successful regular activities.

In May, the proprietor of a Northern California barroom was arrested aft helium allegedly sold made-to-order fake COVID-19 vaccination cards for $20 each, the AP reported, and a naturopathic doc successful Northern California was arrested successful June connected charges she sold fake COVID treatments and vaccination cards.

Two tourists were arrested this period for allegedly utilizing fake vaccine cards to question into Hawaii, and U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer has called connected national instrumentality enforcement agencies to people online income of fake COVID vaccination cards, the AP reported.

More information

Visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for much connected COVID vaccines.

SOURCE: Associated Press

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