Booming black market for fake COVID-19 vaccination cards is going mainstream

Fake COVID-19 vaccination cards are easy to acquire for anyone with a smartphone. Although counterfeits have long been accessible on the dark web, until now they've only been available to those willing to install complicated encryption software to make transactions on shady markets. 

Today, phony vaccination cards are easy to find and cheap to acquire for anyone with a Telegram messaging app account and a little cryptocurrency. The cards typically cost about $100 each, according to new research from Check Point, a Silicon Valley-based cybersecurity firm.  There seems to be plenty of interest. The number of followers of Telegram groups offering vaccination credentials has soared 566% since early 2021. The number of fake vaccination card vendors on Telegram and WhatsApp jumped 257%. Over 2,500 Telegram groups now selling fake vaccine cards have over 100,000 followers, and some groups are approaching half a million.