A Texas soldier has been charged in federal court in Fort Worth with selling bogus COVID-19 vaccination cards on Instagram, federal court records show.
Even as airlines, gyms, restaurants and other businesses refuse to accept unvaccinated customers, some remain reluctant to get the shot. That has fueled a growing black market for bogus COVID-19 vaccination cards.
Agents say Keishaun Edward Todd, 20, sold undercover agents at least one vaccination card for $150. Agents and Dallas Police officers executed a search warrant Thursday at a Fort Worth hotel where he was staying for a military assignment and found 82 vaccination cards, 61 of which were blank, court records say.
Todd accepted payment on Zelle and Apply Pay and mailed the cards to his customers, according to a criminal complaint. Authorities did not say where he obtained the cards.
The Dallas man was charged with illegal possession of U.S. government property and has been released a personal recognizance bond. Todd and his attorney could not be reached Friday for comment.
The FBI and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued an alert in March warning the public that buying or making fake COVID-19 vaccination record cards is illegal and could endanger others. “Fake vaccination record cards have been advertised on social media websites, as well as e-commerce platforms and blogs,” the alert said.
“By misrepresenting yourself as vaccinated 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 agencies said in the alert.
Health care providers who administer COVID-19 vaccinations are required to document the date and the type of vaccination shot given on a small, white card that serves as an official immunization record. The cards, provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, are printed on cardstock and can be easily forged or tampered with.
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Fakes have turned up for sale online on Etsy, Amazon and the Dark Web, according to authorities and published reports. Arrests for stolen and counterfeit vaccination cards are rare but growing.
Those recently busted include a Chicago pharmacist who allegedly sold the cards on his eBay account, and a Florida couple who are accused of using phony vaccination cards to fly with their children to Hawaii.
About 51% of the U.S. population has been fully vaccinated, according to recent CDC numbers.
Dallas police on Aug. 10 identified a man who was selling COVID-19 vaccination cards on Instagram, the federal complaint said. The user posted a video of himself mailing some of the cards at a post office box while saying, “I’m putting yall [expletive] in the mail right now. You see it. Now it’s gone,” the complaint said.
Investigators used the person’s social media photos to find his license plate and track it to a 2011 Jaguar 40 XF registered to Todd, according to the complaint.
An undercover agent allegedly reached out to Todd on Instagram to arrange a sale. Todd told the agent he needed a full name, address, driver’s license number and date of birth, court records say. The agent wired $150 to his cell phone number, records show.
In announcing the arrest of the Chicago pharmacist, federal authorities said on Tuesday they are taking such offenses seriously and will not tolerate fraud involving vaccination cards.
“We… will vigorously investigate, any criminal offense that contributes to the distrust around vaccines and vaccination status,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The Department of Justice and its law enforcement partners are committed to protecting the American people from these offenses during this national emergency.”
Selling COVID-19 vaccination cards to the unvaccinated creates a risk of serious harm and death to millions of Americans, said Emmerson Buie Jr., who heads the FBI’s Chicago field office, in a statement.
“To put such a small price on the safety of our nation is not only an insult to those who are doing their part in the fight to stop COVID-19, but a federal crime with serious consequences,” Buie said.
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