Covid pass fraud: Three men from Ilford arrested over allegedly faking Covid vaccine records

The police have arrested three men from Ilford as part of investigations into suspected fake Covid-19 vaccination records.

Scotland Yard said it is “concerning that individuals may have fraudulently created false Covid-19 vaccination records” on the NHS database.

Staff at a London NHS trust noticed a suspicious pattern on some online vaccination records and alerted Action Fraud, who passed the information onto the Met’s central cyber crime unit.

Officers arrested a 27-year-old and 23-year-old man, both from Ilford, for unauthorised computer access and conspiracy to commit fraud by misrepresentation.

Searches at a residential property are underway and 11 devices have been seized.

In an unrelated investigation, a 36-year-old man, also from Ilford, was arrested on suspicion of unauthorised computer access and conspiracy to commit fraud by misrepresentation.

Three devices were seized and officers are searching a residential address.

The arrests followed a member of staff from a different NHS trust noticing suspicious vaccination records on their online system.

All three remain in custody while the two separate investigations continue.

Det Supt Helen Rance, from the central cyber crime team, said: "It is concerning that individuals may have fraudulently created false Covid-19 vaccination records during a time when levels of the virus are rising.

"The staff at both trusts did the right thing and reported their concerns which has allowed us to fully investigate the circumstances.

"I want to reassure the public that no systems were hacked into from outside of the NHS networks and the integrity of the NHS systems remains robust."

Action Fraud has also warned Londoners about a Covid pass scam.

Scammers are looking to deceive in an attempt to source money or sensitive information through text messages, emails, and phone calls pretending to be from the NHS.

They offer fake vaccine certificates for sale online and through social media, which they say can be used for entry to events and the like under the government’s Plan B rules.

Many of them will look similar to the real thing, scammers have developed sophisticated ways to lure people into parting with hard earned money, but are ultimately fraudulent.