A man holds his vaccination reminder card after having received his first shot at a pop-up vaccination site next to Maximo Gomez Park, also known as Domino Park, on May 3 in the Little Havana neighborhood of Miami. Wilfredo Lee/AP hide caption
toggle caption Wilfredo Lee/AP 
A man holds his vaccination reminder card after having received his first shot at a pop-up vaccination site next to Maximo Gomez Park, also known as Domino Park, on May 3 in the Little Havana neighborhood of Miami.
A vendor on Amazon was discovered selling a pack of blank COVID-19 vaccination cards this week. The post has since been removed, but photos reshared online showed a 10-pack of blank cards going for $12.99.
In the U.S., actually getting a COVID-19 vaccine and receiving a legitimate vaccination card is free.
The small white piece of cardstock given to Americans after receiving all necessary COVID-19 shots is the only official way to show some proof of full immunization on the fly. But according to the Federal Trade Commission, those simple cards, easily replicated by fraudsters, never were designed to prove vaccination status long term.
Sponsor MessageOther vendors selling fake vaccine cards have cropped up on Etsy, an e-commerce site focusing on handmade and vintage items; on pro-Trump forums; and on the dark web, according to recent reports.
"We do not allow the products in question in our store. We have proactive measures in place to prevent prohibited products from being listed and we continuously monitor our store," an Amazon spokesperson said in an email to NPR. "In this case, we have removed the items and taken action on the bad actors involved in bypassing our controls."
Etsy didn't immediately respond to NPR's requests for comment.
A black market for fake vaccination cards has grown in the waning days of the pandemic in the U.S. and other parts of the world. Authorities have been warning about the rise in pandemic-related fraud for months.
Fake vaccine cards not only have a negative impact on public health, the FBI said, but they're against the law — unauthorized use of an official government agency's seal can be punished with a fine or up to five years in prison.
The FBI said earlier this year, "By misrepresenting yourself as vaccinated when entering schools, mass transit, workplaces, gyms, or places of worship, you put yourself and others around you at risk of contracting COVID-19."
Sponsor MessageThe FBI and Justice Department didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on potential investigations into such schemes.
State attorneys general set their sights on the issue in April, urging tech CEOs to nip this phenomenon in the bud before it got worse.
