Covid cash: Criminal gangs in Europe selling fake negative Covid-19 tests

The European Union’s (EU) policing agency has issued an alert that criminal gangs are cashing in on the Covid crisis by selling forged negative test results at airports.

The fake Covid-19 tests fetch up to €300 (R5.400)) each, as the documents are now widely mandatory for travel.

The Agency said it has received “intelligence reports of alleged use of a mobile app by organized crime group ‘Rathkeale Rovers,’ which allows group members to manually falsify test results.” 

Arrests

Rathkeale Rovers is the name given to a group of criminals based in Ireland but operating internationally.

According to Europol, the Irish organized gang is under a scheme to fake coronavirus test results for people traveling between countries.

Europol said Monday that several suspects were recently arrested selling the fraudulent papers at airports in France and the UK.

The gangs have also been peddling fake negative tests online and via messaging chats in Spain and the Netherlands, the EU bloc’s police agency added.

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International pandemic-related restrictions

As part of ongoing pandemic-related restrictions internationally, a growing number of countries and airlines require passengers to show proof of a negative Covid test before allowing them to travel.

“As long as travel restrictions remain in place due to the pandemic, it is very likely that criminals will seize the opportunity of producing and selling fake Covid-19 test certificates.”

In one case, police arrested a suspect at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris for selling forged tests for between €150 and €300 apiece.

Another bust was made at Luton Airport near London, while authorities in Spain and the Netherlands have made similar arrests.

“Intelligence suggests that in the UK, fraudsters were caught selling bogus Covid-19 test documents for £100 ($136), faking the name of a genuine laboratory on the false certificates,” Europol noted.