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Jasmine Clifford, also known as @AntiVaxMomma on Instagram, has been accused of selling fake COVID-19 vaccination cards.
Clifford began advertising counterfeit COVID-19 vaccination cards through his Instagram account, which is no longer active, in May, according to the Manhattan district attorney’s office. The cards cost $ 200 and buyers used CashApp or Zelle to pay for them, prosecutors said. For an additional $ 250, Clifford allegedly worked with Nadayza Barkley, a 27-year-old medical clinic worker in Patchogue, New York, to fraudulently enter at least 10 people into the Vaccination Information System’s database. New York State.
Prosecutors said Clifford, 31, sold around 250 cards via Instagram. Additional charges were also filed on Monday against 15 people involved in the fake vaccination card program.
Clifford was charged with criminal possession of a second-degree counterfeit instrument, offering a false instrument for first-degree deposit, and fifth-degree conspiracy. Barkley has been charged with offering a fake instrument of first degree grading and fifth degree conspiracy.
Of the 250 people who purchased the fake cards, 13 of them – all believed to be frontline workers in hospitals and nursing homes – were charged with one count of criminal possession of a counterfeit instrument in the second degree.
Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance Jr. called on Facebook, Instagram’s parent company, to fight fraud.
“We will continue to protect public health in New York City with proactive investigations like these, but the stakes are too high to tackle bogus vaccination cards with scathing prosecutions,” he said in a statement. .
A Facebook spokesperson said the company banned anyone “from buying or selling fake – or even genuine – COVID-19 vaccine cards” on the platform.
“We deleted Ms Clifford’s account in early August for breaking our rules, and we will be looking at any other accounts that might do the same,” the spokesperson said. “We appreciate the DA’s work on this issue and will remove this content whenever we find it.”
Although COVID-19 vaccines are available to anyone 12 years of age and over, the illegal market for fake vaccine cards has grown in recent months, thanks to sellers on Telegram, Amazon and Etsy, the FBI said. in March.
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