More than 3,000 fake vaccine cards from China seized by customs and border patrol officers at one port

Author: CAITLIN O'KANE / CBS News
Published: Updated:
fake vaccine cards
The cards seized in Memphis had typos, unfinished words and some Spanish words that were misspelled. However, there are many more fake COVID-19 vaccine cards out there. Credit: U.S. Customs and Border Patrol via CBS News

U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized fake vaccine cards shipped from China to Tennessee last week. The shipment was disguised as paper greeting cards and upon reading the description in the shipment manifest, customs and border patrol officers “already knew what it was,” the agency said in a statement.

The shipment was on route to the central business district of New Orleans but was intercepted at the port of Memphis. The agency said it was the 15th such shipment that night and inside were “51 low quality, counterfeit COVID-19 vaccination cards.”

The cards look like real vaccine verification cards with blanks for name, birthdate, vaccine brand and other information, as well as the Centers for Disease Control and prevention logo. However, the cards had typos, unfinished words and some Spanish words that were misspelled, the agency said.

The officers also knew the shipment was counterfeit because it was imported by a non-CDC or medical entity. “This was not the first time they had seen this shipper,” the agency said. Such shipments are described as “Paper Greeting Cards/Use For-Greeting Card,” or “PAPER PAPER CARD” and they are always from China.

The fake vaccine cards come in packs of 20, 51 and 100 and there are never any attempts to conceal them, the agency said. Memphis isn’t the only place these counterfeits have been intercepted, however, officers in the city have seized 121 of these shipments, totaling 3,017 of these vaccination cards.

The contraband are all over the United States, the agency said. Selling, buying or using counterfeit COVID-19 cards is a crime, the FBI says.

It can be categorized as the unauthorized use of an official government agency seal and violators could face a fine and up to five years in prison.

“These vaccinations are free and available everywhere,” Michael Neipert, area port director of Memphis, said in a statement. “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.”

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