Fraudsters Are Looking For Those Vaccine Card Selfies To Fuel Their Identify Thefts And Other Scams

ID theft, scam emails, and calls, duplicate cards – all can come from just your sharing a photo of your vaccination card on your social media

Scammers can discover your birth date, which vaccine you got, where you got it, and that can help scammers and cybercriminals plan scam emails and calls to specifically target you and your family.

As vaccinations really start to become accessible to more people around the world it’s going to be tempting to post that selfie photo on social media with your vaccine card after getting the shot.

But don’t do it!

Online criminals are hoping you will.  It’s why you should STOP, THINK twice, and then DECIDE about that post.

People are eager to share the good news on social media, especially now that we are working our way through the pandemic, but you have to be always on guard. That personal information on that vaccine card can help scammers who are actively building a file on you.

Yes, scammers maintain information about you in databases that they can use to target you and everyone you know. Scammers even use CRMs like SalesForce!

People may try to cover information with their thumb or to block out information before they post the photo, but just your name, vaccine type, and location can give the scammers enough information to seem legitimate when they reach out to you or other family members over the phone, or through an email.

Scammers will actually grab your information and they’ll take that to the point of contacting you.

They will actually follow up with either a phone call or an email and will include pieces of what was on that card.

FOR EXAMPLE: they’re going to know you had the Pfizer vaccine, and they can represent themselves as a Pfizer representative, or from the health department, or somewhere in the email it’ll say something specific about your vaccine like there might be a danger. What that does is called social engineering, to create a false sense of security and urgency to get you to respond.

In some cases, they are stealing all the information, helping them to commit identity theft, and even make counterfeit vaccine cards. These fake cards are helping people who aren’t vaccinated to pose as you or just simply someone that is vaccinated to gain access to travel or other benefits that being vaccinated will provide.

Counterfeit vaccination cards are already being sold online and internationally!

Fraudsters are putting a full-effort into this because this is what’s hot on people’s minds right now. They can grab that information on that card and create a complete duplicate card that has an existing black market for them right now. That is because that card in certain areas internationally will help someone gain access. Duplicate cards sell on pop-up darkweb sites for as little as $5.

Of course, there is nothing wrong with posting on social media about getting your vaccination, but don’t post the completed card, it’s safest to post a picture with one of the stickers instead.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, fraudsters have been increasing their activity. You need to be aware of this to keep yourself and your family safe.

These criminals troll social media for information about us constantly.

Regardless of what you’re sharing on social media, spend a few minutes to make sure you know who is seeing your posts and that your privacy settings are where you want them. These settings can change on you without you knowing, so it’s important to check them regularly – at least monthly!

Don’t Show Your Card On Social Media!

Remember …

• Your vaccine card has sensitive personal information, and pictures of the card that you share online might put you at risk of identity theft.
• The card not only contains your name and date of birth but also shows when and where you were vaccinated.
• By posting images of this document on social media, you’re sharing sensitive data that may fall into bad hands.

Your vaccine card has sensitive personal information, and pictures you post online that feature the card might put you at risk of identity theft.

“Think of it this way — identity theft works like a puzzle, made up of pieces of personal information. You don’t want to give identity thieves the pieces they need to finish the picture,” according the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

The vaccination card not only has your name and date of birth, but it also shows when and where you were vaccinated. By posting images of this document on social media, you’re sharing sensitive data that may fall into bad hands.

But Wait There Is More …

You could lose HIPAA (Health Privacy) protection!

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) – a federal law that required the creation of national standards to protect sensitive patient health information from being disclosed without the patient’s consent or knowledge.

Legal experts suggest that posting your vaccine card online may void this protection.

The information on the vaccination card is in most cases protected health information subject to HIPAA protection, but once it’s shared by the individual via social media, it no longer enjoys that protection and may be used for medical identity theft or as a means of hacking into patient portals!

Making public information like your date of birth, address, social security number, and even details about family members (like children’s names and dates of birth) could set you up for identity theft.

This is a problem when publicly posting any personal or identifying information that can be used to hack into accounts or commit identity theft or fraud on social media or online.

Posting your birthday, for example, is a good way for criminals to crack passwords since so many people use or include their birthday in them!