Over 3,000 fake COVID vaccine cards seized by customs in Tennessee in the past year
Customs agents in Memphis, Tennessee, have seized more than 3,000 fake COVID-19 vaccination cards so far this year.
Officers recently blocked a shipment of 51 “low quality” counterfeit cards at the port of Memphis that was headed to New Orleans from Shenzhen, China, U.S Customs and Border Protection said in a news release Friday.
“It was described in the manifest as “PAPER CARD, PAPER” and CBPOs already knew what it was,” the news release said. “It was the 15th such shipment of the night.”
The cards had blanks left for the recipient’s name and birthday, the vaccine maker and the date and place of vaccination. They also had the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention logo in the corner.
“However, there were typos, unfinished words and some of the Spanish verbiage on the back was misspelled,” CBP says. “How else did they know it was counterfeit? It was imported by a non-CDC or medical entity, and this was not the first time they had seen this shipper.”
This shipment makes for more than 121 such seizures — containing a total of 3,017 counterfeit cards — in Memphis so far this fiscal year, according to CBP.
“Sometimes the manifests describe the shipments as ‘Paper Greeting Cards/ Use For-Greeting Card,’ sometimes they are ‘PAPER PAPER CARD,’ but they are always from China,” CBP says.
The cards usually come in packs of 20, 51 or 100, and there are “never any attempts to conceal them in anything.”
“The recipients of this ubiquitous contraband are unfortunately all over the United States,” CBP says.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has said creating or buying fake COVID-19 vaccination cards is illegal.
“If you did not receive the vaccine, do not buy fake vaccine cards, do not make your own vaccine cards, and do not fill-in blank vaccination record cards with false information,” the FBI 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.”
Buying, selling or using a fake vaccine card can also be considered “unauthorized use of an official government agency seal,” since the cards usually have the CDC logo on them, which is punishable by a fine and up to five years in prison, CBP says.
“These vaccinations are free and available everywhere,” Michael Neipert, area port director of Memphis said in the release. “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.”
The CDC recommends getting a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as possible for those who haven’t.
“COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective,” it says. “Millions of people in the United States have received COVID-19 vaccines under the most intense safety monitoring in U.S. history.”
This story was originally published August 16, 2021 at 10:26 AM with the headline "Over 3,000 fake COVID vaccine cards seized by customs in Tennessee in the past year."
