The NSW Health Minister says he has been the victim of a fraudulent COVID-19 test report and says those responsible for the "moronic" act will be punished.
Brad Hazzard said he received a notification from NSW Health that someone had registered a positive rapid antigen test (RAT) under his name.
The system for self-reporting RATs went live last week and — through the Service NSW app or website — people must register their positive result with details including their mobile number.
Mr Hazzard said whoever had made a fake report with his details was "juvenile" and "extremely irresponsible".
"You are undermining what the public health team is trying to do here to keep the entire community safe," he said.
"It is juvenile, it is moronic."
The Health Minister said police would "come hunting" for anyone who misrepresents information to NSW Health and could issue $5,000 fines.
"If you're caught you will have a $5,000 fine but worse still, when you're telling your friends about that, they will probably tell you how stupid you are."
The NSW cybercrime squad has launched an investigation into the fake test result under Mr Hazzard's name and urged anyone else who has information about fraudulent tests to contact Crime Stoppers.
Cybercrime squad commander Detective Superintendent Matt Craft says entering erroneous data into NSW government systems is a criminal offence, as is impersonating another individual.
“Every interaction leaves an electronic footprint and the NSW Police Force has dedicated cybercrime detectives who will thoroughly investigate any reports of this nature," Superintendent Craft said.
“Not only is this a nuisance, it also corrupts valuable pandemic data relied upon to support essential services. This is not a joke and is a criminal offence."
Mr Hazzard said those putting in malicious fake reports of infections were wasting the time and resources of the health department who must monitor any high-risk cases of COVID.
He said before his personal experience on Monday he had heard of other fake reports being submitted.
According to Service NSW, you can register a positive result for another adult or child and do not need a MyServiceNSW account to do so.
Failing to report a positive rapid antigen test attracts a $1,000 fine.
