Bar Owner Charged With Making Fake Vaccination Cards

The owner of a California bar has been charged with making and selling fake coronavirus vaccination cards. State investigators received a tip about the false cards, then began an undercover operation, ABC reports. The agents said they bought cards for $20 each from Todd Anderson on different visits to Old Corner Saloon in Clements last month before arresting him. The charges against Anderson, 59, include falsifying a medical record, falsifying a seal, and several counts of identity theft. Officials said the identity theft charge was added because the cards included names or logos for Pfizer, Moderna, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and others.

"It is disheartening to have members in our community show flagrant disregard for public health in the midst of a pandemic," San Joaquin County's district attorney said. The FBI warned Americans in March not to post photos of their vaccination cards on social media. Officials have expressed concern that fake cards could be sold on marketplace sites such as OfferUp, EBay, and Shopify. The National Association of Attorneys General has told some sites to take down posts selling counterfeit vaccination cards and keep identifying information about the posters, per the Los Angeles Times. OfferUp said it usually spots and removes the posts in less than an hour. (More vaccinations stories.)