NHS staff arrested over pass scam
SIX people – including NHS staff – have been arrested following a Mail on Sunday investigation into fake vaccine certificates.
Police launched an inquiry in October after we revealed how patient records were being changed to show that people had received two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine when, in reality, they had not been jabbed.
A man was arrested at the time, and since then five more suspects have also been held.
Yet two months after our exposé, crooks are continuing to falsify NHS records, despite Government pledges to crack down on the crime.
In our original investigation, reporters found fraudsters on the encrypted messaging app Telegram offering to alter the details of an unvaccinated person for £750. Officers arrested 23-year-old Jordan Goodall, from Basingstoke, Hampshire, on the day we published details of the scandal, October 3. Since then Hampshire Police have arrested two men from London, aged 29 and 26, and three women from London and Maidstone, aged between 20 and 25.
All five were detained under the Computer Misuse Act. Four are under investigation for fraud. Mr Goodall is on police bail while the others have been released under investigation. Those employed by the NHS have been suspended.
Yet last week we found a user of messaging app Snapchat named ‘TT’ advertising the same service. When an undercover reporter made contact, TT sought details of the person whose details were to be altered, including their NHS number, and a £400 fee.
Within hours, TT sent a screenshot of health records showing that two fake vaccinations had been uploaded on to the system. By the next day, the NHS Covid app had been updated and had generated the official vaccine passport.
The NHS said: ‘Using fraudulent vaccine passes contributes towards the spread of the virus and puts lives at risk. Checks of vaccine records are carried out to ensure data is accurate.’