In many parts of the world, passengers must show a negative Covid-19 test before catching a flight, but several recent arrests suggest that not all results will be true.
Authorities in Indonesia, France and the UK say they have arrested predators of fake coronavirus tests.
“As long as travel restrictions remain due to the Covid-19 situation, it is very likely that there will be the production and sale of false test certificates,” Europol, the European Union’s law enforcement agency, said this month.
Allegations of a Covid-19 testball have surfaced around the world. A man was arrested outside London’s Luton Airport in late January in connection with the sale of false Covid-19 test certificates.
In November, French authorities arrested seven people for selling false certificates to passengers at Charles de Gaulle Airport, near Paris. Police first caught wind after finding a passenger with a false certificate on a flight to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia. Following the arrests, police found on the phones of the suspect more than 200 false testimonies, which allowed people to fly internationally, according to French prosecutors.