Several people have been arrested in France on suspicion of selling fake test certification.

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R.VAN LONKHUIJSEN / ANP / AFP

Up to 300 euros.

This is the price of false certificates of negative tests for Covid-19 sold in airports, warned the European police agency Europol on Monday, urging travelers to be cautious.

Several people, suspected of selling false certificates of non-contamination at airports in Great Britain and France, as well as online or through telephone groups in Spain and the Netherlands, have been arrested, Europol said in a press release. 

“High quality” counterfeit documents

Many member countries of the European Union and others are now demanding proof that passengers are not infected with the disease which has killed more than 2.2 million people worldwide.

"It is very likely that criminals will seize the opportunity to produce and sell fake Covid-19 test certificates as long as travel restrictions are maintained due to the pandemic," Europol believes.

"Given the extent of technological means available with high quality printers and various software, counterfeiters are able to produce high quality false or counterfeit documents", adds the agency, based in The Hague (Netherlands). .

10 days ago, a man suspected of selling fake Covid-19 certificates of non-contamination was arrested at Luton airport in Britain.

Seven people arrested in France

In early November, French police arrested seven people in connection with the dismantling of trafficking in false certificates of negative Covid-19 tests bearing the name of an existing laboratory, sold at prices ranging from 150 to 300 euros at travelers at Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle airport, near Paris.

In Spain, police arrested a man selling fake documents like this for 40 euros online, and in the Netherlands traffickers were doing the same using mobile phone messaging apps.

"The detection of false certificates of negative tests for Covid-19 confirms that criminals, whether they are organized crime groups or individual crooks, seize the opportunity as soon as it appears", emphasizes Europol.

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