Feds warn of alarming rise in reports of fake vaccine cards sold and used

Cyber experts say there's an increase in reports of the use and selling of fake vaccination cards -- and they warn that scammers are also offering to hack databases.

A burgeoning online market for counterfeit COVID-19 vaccination cards is setting off alarm bells for federal health officials, who warn that the demand for fake proof of immunity is on the rise. The Health and Human Services' Office of Inspector General tells ABC News exclusively that they are receiving "increasing reports of individuals creating, purchasing, and using fake COVID-19 vaccination cards," warning that the proliferation of sham cards can leave victims' personal identity vulnerable -- and threaten the nation's hard-fought gains against the virus. "We are seeing it be widespread, and part of that is because it's being done across social media and e-commerce, where anybody who might run into it could become a participant in it," Miranda Bennett, HHS-OIG special agent in charge of health care fraud, told ABC News of the rise in reports. "It is very concerning." The illicit niche industry for forged vaccination cards is hitting its stride just as new vaccine requirements are rapidly being implemented at the federal, state and local levels and in both the public and private sectors -- requiring proof of inoculation in order to work at a hospital, teach or attend school, work out at the gym, or eat inside a restaurant. Yet despite the new policies -- and the FDA's full approval this month of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine -- some hesitant Americans still refuse to be vaccinated.