Fake COVID-19 Vaccine Card Scam In FL: What To Know

FLORIDA — A new scam tied to the coronavirus pandemic is targeting Floridians online, and the state's top cop is warning residents.

Some people may be tempted to buy fake COVID-19 vaccination record cards to avoid getting the vaccine, but the FBI warns that it's illegal, as well as dangerous. In some cases, thieves are using the images people have posted on social media of their Centers for Disease Control-issued vaccinations cards to sell them online.

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody said as the availability of COVID-19 vaccines increases, so do the number of scammers trying to exploit the health crisis for personal gain.

"I am asking eBay, Shopify and Twitter to help us prevent fraud by taking action to stop the sale of fraudulent vaccination cards through their online platforms,” Moody said in a statement.

The FBI has begun investigating online retailers and individuals touting fake vaccination cards for sale, as well as posts encouraging people to print their own cards at home, according to a statement. In addition to violating federal law, the fake cards may put people's health ask risk if an unvaccinated person misrepresents themselves as having protection against the coronavirus.

"When entering schools, mass transit, workplaces, gyms, or places of worship, you put yourself and others around you at risk of contracting COVID-19," the FBI said.

Listings for fake or blank vaccination cards bearing the CDC logo have popped up on sites such as Twitter, eBay and Shopify. More than two dozen attorneys general from across the United States sent a letter to the retailers April 1 asking for immediate action from the platforms to prevent them from being used as a "vehicle to commit these fraudulent deceptive acts that harm our communities."

Moody and 45 other state attorneys general recently issued a letter to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, Shopify CEO Tobias Lütke, and eBay CEO Jamie Iannone regarding the fake vaccination cards being marketed on their platforms.

RELATED: Do You Support A Vaccine Passport In Florida? Take Our Survey

In the letter, the attorneys general called on the tech companies to crack down on the marketing of misinformation and fake vaccination cards.

"We are deeply concerned about this use of your platforms to spread false and misleading information regarding COVID vaccines," the letter reads. "The false and deceptive marketing and sales of fake COVID vaccine cards threatens the health of our communities, slows progress in getting our residents protected from the virus, and are a violation of the laws of many states."

The companies have said any such postings violate their sites' terms of service and are actively being removed, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

A Twitter spokesperson told the paper it prioritizes the "removal of high-severity violations that could potentially cause real-world harm" including misleading information about COVID-19.

A Shopify spokesman told the Chronicle the site has been "proactively monitoring" for any illegal sale of COVID-19 vaccines cards since February and has acted swiftly to remove them.

An eBay spokeswoman also told the paper it has been working with the Food and Drug Administration to monitor its site for listings involving the COVID-19 vaccines and have removed roughly 50 million listings that violated the company's policies.