Fake coronavirus vaccine cards are suddenly pouring into the United States from China, according to federal customs officials.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers who work at international mail sorting facilities at airports across the country saw an increase in the number of fake vaccination cards seized in late August and early September. The sudden influx of cards comes as the Biden administration clamps down on vaccine mandates, requiring all federal workers to get a COVID-19 vaccine and pressuring businesses to push employees into getting them.
“Recently, CBP has been seizing a high volume of counterfeit vaccination cards throughout the country,” the federal agency wrote in a statement.
Mail inspectors caught more than 3,000 counterfeit cards while processing parcels in Anchorage, Alaska, according to an Aug. 18 news release.
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CBP officers at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport seized 19 counterfeit cards that resembled the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s authentic certificates, which are provided to U.S. residents at the time they receive the shot. Inspectors determined that the cards, which were bound for a residence in Ohio, were fake because they were low-quality and some words were misspelled.
A third suspicious package from China that was bound for downtown New Orleans was pulled from the inspection line by officers in Memphis, Tennessee. It was the 15th package interdicted in a single day in Memphis and one of 121 packages containing fake cards that officials have interdicted since January, CBP officials said. More than 3,000 cards have been taken out of the mail cycle by Memphis officers in that time.
The specific seizure had 51 cards inside, and all featured the CDC’s government logo in the upper right corner.
The FBI declared earlier this year that the creation or possession of a fake vaccination card is a federal crime, making it the responsibility of customs officers to screen arriving mail for counterfeit cards. However, one agency official said having to focus on the cards is pulling his employees from looking for deadly drugs.
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“If you do not wish to receive a vaccine, that is your decision. But don’t order a counterfeit, waste my officer’s time, break the law, and misrepresent yourself,” CBP’s Memphis Area Port Director Michael Neipert said in a statement. “CBP Officers at the Area Port of Memphis remain committed to stopping counterfeit smuggling and helping to protect our communities. But just know that when you order a fake vaxx card, you are using my officers time as they also seize fentanyl and methamphetamines.”
