LETTER | Fake vaccination passports are a direct threat to public health and safety as they will make people less safe and make the Covid-19 pandemic last longer.

Even though it is mind-boggling to understand why people would pay for fake vaccination certification when every country in the world are vaccinating their citizens at no cost, the issue is serious enough to warrant 47 state attorneys general in the United States to jointly issue a letter to the CEOs of Twitter, Shopify and eBay to take down ads or links selling the bogus cards and the Kazakhstan president to declare it as a threat to their nation’s security.

When Senior Minister (Security) Hishammuddin Hussein was asked whether he expected to see cases of people using fake or falsified digital vaccine certificates, he called on the people to expose those irresponsible people who have fake or falsified vaccine certificates rather than spreading slander on social media,

The deputy health minister went one step further yesterday when he said the Health Ministry (MOH) viewed fake digital vaccine certificates seriously and would take action.

Honestly, I am disappointed at the nonchalant attitude and response from both, pertaining to this.

Firstly, I am of the view that the MOH does not have the expertise nor the enforcement reach to address this issue as schemes to sell illegal proof of vaccination are conducted mainly on social media sites, messaging apps such as Telegram and on the dark web with some sites apparently allowing the buyers to pay via cryptocurrencies.

To address how these are conducted in today’s environment, a multidisciplinary team comprising law enforcement and agencies such as Cyber Crime division in PDRM, MCMC, the telcos, National Security Council and National Cybersecurity Agency should be taking the lead in responding to fake or false vaccination certificates as such an act undermined our country’s national security.

As the government confirmed that it only recognises the digital certification in Mysejahtera or the white card issued by the Health Ministry, it would not stop or prevent cybercriminals with sophisticated skills in IT software and cybersecurity to either hack into the MySejahtera system or create a false platform that mirrors the original MySejahtera platform for them to create and sell fake digital vaccination certificates.

Moving forward, as a lot of employers are making it a requirement for employees to be vaccinated or submit to regular testing at least once a week and malls and F & B outlets requiring proof of vaccination for customers, the concept of the digital certificate becomes more relevant in our daily lives. With the spread of such rules, it has created a market for fake or false certificates for those unvaccinated.

As not everyone has digital access – provisions were made to vaccinate those who did not register under MySejahtera – an alternative certification should be offered to them but subject to strict requirements and hopefully the MOH can integrate the white flimsy card into the database of MySejahtera.

I also urge our law enforcement to make it clear that anyone found with these fake certificates with the unauthorised use of the MySejahtera logo is a crime, including buyers.

Public messages should be issued as frequent as the call for the people to vaccinate themselves reminding the public not to post photos of their digital vaccination certificate to social media websites pointing where personal information could be stolen to commit fraud.

Every Malaysian is cooperating in the collective interest of the entire country. Do not let the cybercriminals destroy the efforts and sacrifices made by every Malaysian to date in trying to bring this pandemic to an end.

Lastly, even though there are provisions under the Penal Code and money laundering laws for forgery and falsification of documents to charge these people, it is still not enough if this, ie the growth of fake digital vaccination certificates, becomes prevalent. 

Maybe the government can charge these cybercriminals under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) as the proliferation of fake vaccination certification threatens the overall interests of the nation. 

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.