Now that the Pfizer vaccine has gained full FDA approval, many government entities and private business are now requiring employees and visitors to provide proof of vaccination—as demand for this proof rises, a lucrative opportunity is arising for scammers to produce fake vaccine cards or use the confusion regarding vaccine mandates to steal money and personal information.

The BBB recently warned that they are anticipating new scams to pop up in relation to vaccine passports. A number of groups are busy developing digital apps to serve as vaccine passports for companies and organizations in a wide variety of industries. In places like New York and industries like air travel, vaccine passports are no longer a theory—they’re reality. The BBB recommends being on the lookout for the following:

• Be skeptical of any vaccine passport app that claims to be from the U.S. federal government. Right now, the U.S. federal government has no plans to create a national vaccine passport. E-mail, calls, text messages that claim the government is requiring such a passport are likely scams.
• Flying or attending an event? Check with the company directly. You may need to show proof of a negative COVID-19 test or vaccine to attend an event or board a flight. As with all things related to COVID-19, policies are frequently changing. Be sure to check with your airline, sports team, event venue etc. beforehand to get the latest details.
• Don’t buy fraudulent vaccine cards. Don’t support scammers and undermine the vaccine effort by buying a black market vaccine card. Misrepresenting yourself as vaccinated means you put yourself and others around you at risk of contracting COVID-19.
• Research carefully. If you receive an invitation to download a COVID-19 vaccine passport app, be sure to do your research before entering your personal information. Scammers are very creative, so be skeptical of anything that seems too good – or crazy – to be true. Double check any information against official news sources and company websites.
• Guard your government-issued numbers. Never offer your Medicare ID number, Social Security number, health plan information, or banking information to anyone you don’t know or trust. Don’t post your vaccine card on social media.
• Think the link may be real? Double check the URL. Scammers often buy official-looking URL domains to use in their cons. Be careful to ensure that the link destination is really what it claims to be. If the message claims to be from the government, make sure the URL ends in .gov (for the United States) or .ca (for Canada). When in doubt, perform a separate internet search for the website or call the source directly.