An anti-vaxxer has been charged with running an elaborate fraudulent COVID-19 vaccination card scam.
Jasmine Clifford of Lyndhurst, New Jersey, was charged by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office with selling about 250 fake vaccination cards on Instagram, where she was known as “AntiVaxMomma.” The 31-year-old charged $200 per card. To make them seem believable, she enlisted the help of Nadayza Barkley, an employee with a New York clinic, to enter buyer’s names into the New York State Immunization Information System (NYSIIS) database. The 27-year-old allegedly entered at least ten people into the system, charging $250 for this extra measure. The state system keeps track of who has gotten the COVID-19 vaccine. That information is then provided to Excelsior Pass, a New York-based app that gives immunization proof to various companies and venues.
Even more troubling is that several of the buyers were New York hospital and nursing home employees. Former Governor Andrew M. Cuomo formally announced that all New York healthcare workers would have to be vaccinated.
Clifford has been hit with a slew of charges, including criminal possession of a forged instrument, offering a false instrument for filing, and conspiracy. Barkley faces charges of offering a false instrument for filing and conspiracy as well. The buyer of the fraudulent cards has been charged with criminal possession of a forged instrument.
Facebook, the owner of Instagram, confirmed that the “AntiVaxMomma” account was removed in early August for violating the company’s terms.
