Covid testing in Cozumel

[Manatee Diver]

Yep.... you sure can...... An eBay account reportedly sold over 100 fake COVID-19 vaccination cards in two weeks

Or like a printer.....
View attachment 659283

While, I think, at least in Coz, there is some degree of verification on the test results, as the actual testing companies are operating in the same county vs a vax card from some other country? I could be wrong. Maybe you can just as easily fake a test result?

Unless they are verifying the test results, which highly unlikely considering the amount of passengers on each flight, it would be just as easy to make fake COVID tests. It is a piece of paper, an email, or a website. So either way you are operating on faith IMO.

 

[cvchief]

Unless they are verifying the test results, which highly unlikely considering the amount of passengers on each flight, it would be just as easy to make fake COVID tests. It is a piece of paper, an email, or a website. So either way you are operating on faith IMO.

That could be true. However, I just checked my last Costamed ANTIGEN test (take off man on that PCR) and when I scan the QR code on the document, it takes me to Costamed's website and displays all the information on my test: name, date, lab license number, folio number, etc. So I guess to fake that piece of paper, you need to fake a WHOLE lot of stuff to get there and assume there is no list of approved labs and such used to verify. So, I am thinking that would be really hard, so unlikely to happen much if at all. I guess you could find a disreputable lab and bribe someone, but for all that trouble, getting the test would be easier.

While there is NO way to check my vaccine card, unless you call the call the health system that administered it and you can guess how that phone call would go. And it literally took me 5 seconds to find a vaccine card image. I got a little white card stock laying around, so what? 5 minutes to print an cut. Another 10 second to search someone near by me on facebook for the their 'i got the shot' post their card to copy dates and lot numbers and DONE. And you will never catch me dirty on that in a MX airport. So, I still say VAST difference.

 

[cvchief]

Oh and I took a video of the antigen brain poke just to watch people cringe. It isnt that bad, but it looks terrible.

 

[Manatee Diver]

That could be true. However, I just checked my last Costamed ANTIGEN test (take off man on that PCR) and when I scan the QR code on the document, it takes me to Costamed's website and displays all the information on my test: name, date, lab license number, folio number, etc. So I guess to fake that piece of paper, you need to fake a WHOLE lot of stuff to get there and assume there is no list of approved labs and such used to verify. So, I am thinking that would be really hard, so unlikely to happen much if at all. I guess you could find a disreputable lab and bribe someone, but for all that trouble, getting the test would be easier.

People do it all the time, look at all the fake bank websites. It would probably take more work than it is worth, but it is easily doable if you know what you are doing.

Personally I think the whole thing is overblown. If you make the vaccine attractive, and you reach the herd immunity numbers when combining vaccination and anti-bodies the only people that the fake vaccine card holders are hurting is themselves really.

 

[Jcp2]

Yep.... you sure can...... An eBay account reportedly sold over 100 fake COVID-19 vaccination cards in two weeks

Or like a printer.....
View attachment 659283

While, I think, at least in Coz, there is some degree of verification on the test results, as the actual testing companies are operating in the same county vs a vax card from some other country? I could be wrong. Maybe you can just as easily fake a test result?

You would think they could just read my 5G vaccine chip? It has really improved my cell phone reception. Also like "Hey, Siri" I can say "Hey, Bill Gates" to my arm. Sadly the darn thing only searches on Bing and everyone hates that....



Oh I completely agree. My wife was locked up for 14 month because of her COVID risks. Now, we have compete faith given the data. We did two Coz trips in the last month.

And I agree the with the 'wait, what good is the vaccine then' argument, but I think the fits my theory as well. And at the end of the day, it really is the states that control it. And many of them did it many different ways, red state getting ahead of the CDC under Pres Trump and now blue states resisting following the new CDC advice under President Biden. But it is all too political, which overshadows science both ways really.

I think the main key is that vaccine is freely available and that there are a significant number of vaccinated people so that the background level of infection and surging is diminbished. In that environment, which is the case where I am, those that can choose to either not mask or vaccinated to protect themselves are really in their own. I feel more sympathy for those that are in a high risk group despite vaccination or cannot get the vaccine due to circumstances beyond their control.

 

[cvchief]

People do it all the time, look at all the fake bank websites. It would probably take more work than it is worth, but it is easily doable if you know what you are doing.

Personally I think the whole thing is overblown. If you make the vaccine attractive, and you reach the herd immunity numbers when combining vaccination and anti-bodies the only people that the fake vaccine card holders are hurting is themselves really.

Easily doable? All they would need to verify the QR code is going to a license lab site's URL and and your fake web site wont work. Just like if you compare a fake bank URL to the real one, it is easily ratted out. It would be REALLY hard to get around that.

And I agree with you on who is getting hurt, but common sense is an uncommon virtue...

 

[cvchief]

I think the main key is that vaccine is freely available and that there are a significant number of vaccinated people so that the background level of infection and surging is diminbished. In that environment, which is the case where I am, those that can choose to either not mask or vaccinated to protect themselves are really in their own. I feel more sympathy for those that are in a high risk group despite vaccination or cannot get the vaccine due to circumstances beyond their control.

Very true. In QRoo, the people are complaining about the Gov not going to Red and staying in orange. Cancun is surging. Of course they changed red anyway so if they go back to red, it wont stop tourists or interfere with your diving. I just thought it was interesting that people were complaint he wasn't strict enough. You don't hear that often.

Of course in Cozumel the Mayor denies the island is in red. He says its yellow. Of course he is up for reelection and its campaign season so.....

Yes and all the muchachas they call me Big Poppa When I throw pesos their way, etc etc....

 

[Manatee Diver]

Easily doable? All they would need to verify the QR code is going to a license lab site's URL and and your fake web site wont work. Just like if you compare a fake bank URL to the real one, it is easily ratted out. It would be REALLY hard to get around that.

Not really that hard.

Here go buy yourself an iPad from Apple
https://www.аррӏе.com/

ETA: The link is safe, it is a proof of concept of why unicode URLs are a bad idea.

 

[cvchief]

Not really that hard.

Here go buy yourself an iPad from Apple
https://www.аррӏе.com/

ETA: The link is safe, it is a proof of concept of why unicode URLs are a bad idea.

I didn't click it as it was OBVIOUSLY not apple, it was that xn thing. Easy to see actually URL and easy to detect in a QR code..... As in "ERROR: QR CODE DOES NOT SHOW APPROVED LAB URL"

If fact the fact that you SAID it was safe made me more wary....

 

[dmaziuk]

Easily doable? All they would need to verify the QR code is going to a license lab site's URL and and your fake web site wont work. Just like if you compare a fake bank URL to the real one, it is easily ratted out. It would be REALLY hard to get around that.

"They"? The way it is supposed to work is you go to your bank and ask for the bank's site SSL certificate on a clean freshly baked CD. (USB devices come with auto-play drivers/firmware that can't be tested/cleaned with regular antivirus software and are therefore unsuitable.) Now if in your bank "they" know what the above even means, and are able to give you the goods, do you know how to import that cert into all your browsers?

Of course you also need to disable the built-in chain of trust in all those browsers, otherwise a fake bank site can present a cert signed by a "trusted authority" and bypass your carefully imported "real" cert: AFAIK there is no mechanism to detect such scenario and even alert the user to that happening. (Edit: more accurately, a trusted cert for a fake site is just as real as a trusted cert for real site so as far as "trust" is concerned the fake site is just as good as the real thing.)

And that's just the tip of the iceberg.