Sale of fake Covid-19 certificates proliferates on Snapchat

The Snapchat social network is now the preferred platform for “sellers” of false positive or negative COVID-19 certificates, as reported by French daily Le Parisien. In order not to go to work, or in order to travel while hiding one’s positivity in terms of the Coronavirus, some are ready to pay a heavy price.

Thus, dozens of announcements of this type abound on the application with photos and temporary messages: “Official test, just non-authentic because you do not show up, and no samples with a swab up the nose.”

To find this type of advertisement, nothing could be simpler: just type the keywords that link to these certificate sales. The counterfeiters then take the telephone numbers, emails and the name and first name of the individual concerned and the transaction is carried out remotely or by appointment, with delivery of the precious certificates in person.

The Snapchat application is used, above all, because its messaging system deletes messages as they go, which means that no evidence of these transactions is left behind. At the sight of these certificates, only a seasoned eye can recognize a true one from a false one. A member of the police told Le Parisien that verifying the authenticity of such a document would take a long time: “If we had to check each test, it would take 8 hours to disembark from a plane.”