Covid-19: trafficking of false PCR test results uncovered in Serbia
In Serbia, false PCR test results are circulating according to local media discovery (Illustrative image).
AFP - ANDREJ ISAKOVIC
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
Serbian journalists have discovered fake PCR test traffic on the internet in Serbia.
Very realistic fake tests cost less than half the price of real tests and most importantly, they are always negative.
Publicity
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With our correspondent in Belgrade,
Laurent Rouy
Contact circulates through word of mouth.
Belgrade journalists were able to buy a fake PCR test on the internet in Serbia.
A simple message, an immediate response, and 35 euros sent to an anonymous phone number, allows you to obtain a false negative test for Covid-19.
A price to compare with the cost of the real anti-covid test in Serbia: 80 euros.
A perfect fake ... to a point
The fake travel document arrives by e-mail and the journalists were able to verify the quality of the counterfeit: the appearance is identical, with a QR code referring to a fake laboratory website.
The difference is in the details: the email address inserted in the QR code contains an error: a dash instead of a period.
It is this little dash that directs the Internet user to the false laboratory site.
Alerted, Serbian health authorities warn that fraudsters will be accused of falsifying documents.
But they confirm that the fake PCR test industry has been around since at least February in Serbia.
Many use it to save on the cost of the test.
An economy that can be costly in the event of discovery.
►Also read: Covid-19 in Serbia: the obligation for all soldiers to be vaccinated is controversial
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Serbia
Coronavirus
Health and medicine