The Italian financial crime prosecution service (Guardia di Finanza – GdF) announced the arrest of several people suspected of managing Telegram channels with the aim of promoting fake vaccination certificates (known as Green Passes).
The arrest operation was aided by some evidence collected by Group-IB investigators . Theinvestigators managed to expose the criminals, despite the measures they had taken to keep their identities secret.
See also: Pfizer: Accuses employee of stealing vaccine data
The searches and arrests took place in the Veneto, Liguria, Apulia and Sicily regions of Italy, and all the arrested suspects admitted to the illegal activity.
Selling fake vaccination certificates via Telegram channels
The arrested individuals operated at least 35 Telegram channels, with a combined audience of 100,000 users. The criminals promised “authentic” and valid vaccination for the price of 100 euros ($113).
Although the sellers claimed to have accomplices in the Ministry of Health, who could add false entries to the national database, thus making the QR codes generated valid, the Green Passes were fake.
Therefore, those who paid with Bitcoin, Ethereum, PayPal, or Amazon gift cards were scammed and received a fake card that would not pass any COVID-19 vaccination check.
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Dangers of blackmail
Bypassing COVID-19 vaccination or testing regulations carries tremendous risks. One risk is the virus itself. But in this case, users who purchased fake green passes from scammers have other things to fear as well. These individuals gave the scammers their full names, dates of birth, addresses, and more . The information is needed to create a realistic framework for the scam to work, but the scammers could use the information to sell to other criminals.
Additionally, scammers could blackmail buyers of fake vaccination certificates and demand money to keep the information from being publicly disclosed.
See also: Fake vaccination certificates from 250 euros on the Dark Web
“Many users, in order to circumvent the regulations for the protection of the community, issued by the legislator to deal with the evolution of the pandemic, are attracted by the idea of buying a green pass for 100 euros,” said the Guarda di Finanza.
However, in this case, buyers of fake vaccination certificates were scammed and lost their money, while also giving away personal information, which criminals could use for other illegal activities.
Buying fake vaccination certificates carries a penalty for the purchaser in most countries. Therefore, the problems that those who have tried to buy fake green passes may face are many.
Source: Bleeping Computer
