Corona self-tests: fraudsters on the net

Christiane Fux studied journalism and psychology in Hamburg. The experienced medical editor has been writing magazine articles, news and factual texts on all conceivable health topics since 2001. In addition to her work for, Christiane Fux is also active in prose. Her first crime novel was published in 2012, and she also writes, designs and publishes her own crime plays.

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High hopes are currently being placed on corona rapid tests for self-application: With their help, asymptomatic infections can be detected and the further spread of the virus can be stopped. The rush for the self-tests is correspondingly high at the moment. Cyber security experts from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) warn that this could arouse the desires of criminals. Because the possibilities for fraud are particularly diverse when it comes to online sales.

Scam fake shop

So-called fake shops offer one possibility of fraud. "They typically attract customers with particularly cheap offers for products that are currently very popular," explains Dr. Peter Mayer from the Security Usability Society (SECUSO) research group at KIT.

In the first months of the pandemic, criminals had already offered disinfectants and medical protective equipment in this way. They collected the money without sending the goods. That could now be repeated with the coveted self-tests.

The fraudsters use, among other things, security holes in the websites of companies, associations or private individuals. There they save a redirect to their fake shop, says Mayer. In this way, the fraudsters benefit from the name and visibility of the website in search engines. The actual operators usually do not notice anything.

Caution should be exercised with these signs

According to the KIT experts, you should become suspicious of the following abnormalities:

If the provider has no other similar products on offer and corona tests stand out completely from the rest of the range.

If you can only pay in advance or by credit card.
When the rapid tests are offered significantly cheaper than elsewhere.
If no imprint is given on the shop page or no one can be reached via the given contact details.

Unauthorized tests and fakes

In addition, tests are also offered online that are not approved in Europe. Their results are often not reliable and thus pose a risk. A list of approved corona tests is available on the website of the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices at https://www.bfarm.de/DE/Medizinprodukte/Antigentests/_node.html .

In addition, only approved antigen self-tests carry the CE mark and a four-digit number from an independent testing institute. Due to the current special approvals from the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM), the CE mark on the packaging of some approved tests may, conversely, be missing even for approved tests *.

However, fakes of approved tests are also offered online. You should therefore only buy from trustworthy shops, such as the large online pharmacies.

Quality seals such as the Trusted Shops label or the s @ fer-shopping seal from TÜV SÜD provide an indication that a shop is trustworthy. "But caution is advised here too," warns cyber expert Mayer. "Fraudsters can simply copy the seals or invent their own seals to simulate seriousness."

(* This text has been updated to reflect new information on the CE mark)

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