Police Examine Fake COVID-19 Test Results Linked to PeduliLindungi

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Soekarno-Hatta Airport Resort Police are exploring cases of fake COVID-19 test results that were connected to the COVID-19 app PeduliLindungi.

The airport police chief, Sr. Comr. Sigit Dany Setiyono, said an officer of one of the health clinics at the airport was involved in this illegal activity.

“What‘s certain is that the person has access to Pedulilindungi and we will continue to investigate whether there is legal access. This is surely an input to improve internal data security in the PeduliLindungi system,” he said on Friday, Feb. 25.

The clinic officer forging the COVID-19 test result is identified as AR. The resident of Teluknaga sub-district, Tangerang Regency, conspired with other suspects MSF, S, and HF. They had run the illicit business from November 2021 to February 2022.

“AR can hack the PeduliLindungi app. After hacking the app, AR immediately printed out the negative COVID-19 result certificate for passengers,” said Sigit, adding that the suspects only needed customers’ ID numbers.

Throughout their five months of action, Sigit said, they had issued 300 fake letters. “With a price of Rp200,000-Rp300,000 per certificate. They had earned a profit of Rp60 million from this illegal activity,” said Sigit.

Soekarno-Hatta Airport’s Head of the Class I Port Health Office, Tunggul Birowo, claimed his side has not yet found out whether the health clinic was registered in the PeduliLindungi system. “We need to seek the facts on how it (the clinic) penetrates the system. This can be a correction that there is something to be fixed.”

Read: Police Nab Printing Business Owner over Fake COVID-19 Test Results

JONIANSYAH HARDJONO