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Europol: Criminal gangs selling fake COVID-19 test results

Published:Monday | February 1, 2021 | 9:40 AM
Passengers from Taiwan wearing protective gear arrive to board their plane at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport in Roissy, north of Paris, Monday, February 1, 2021. France says it's closing its borders to people arriving from outside the European Union starting Sunday to try to stop the growing spread of new variants of the virus and avoid a third lockdown. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — The European Union’s police agency is warning nations to be on the lookout for fake COVID-19 test certificates, as crime gangs attempt to cash in on pandemic travel restrictions.

Many countries have introduced requirements for arriving passengers to show a negative COVID-19 test to slow the spread of the coronavirus brought in by people arriving from other nations.

Europol said Monday that recent cases reported by EU member states include a forgery ring selling negative test results to passengers at the Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris and a counterfeiter detained by Spanish police for selling fake test results.

British authorities also caught fraudsters selling COVID-19 documents for 100 pounds or $137 Euros each.

“Europol received additional intelligence on the alleged use of a mobile application by the Rathkeale Rovers Mobile Organised Crime Group which allows members of the organised crime group to manually falsify test results,” the agency said.

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