EBAY and Amazon are pulling NHS lanyards from their sites over fraudster fears.
It has been feared people could be posing as the key workers to skip queues in supermarkets.
The NHS heroes have been getting preferential treatment to buy their supplies as they fight the coronavirus crisis.
And now the online giants are being especially careful to stop anyone taking advantage of this.
The Health Service Journal (HSJ) reports they will remove NHS lanyards from the marketplaces.
While there is no evidence of anyone using the items to cheat the system, sales have reportedly gone up in recent weeks.
An eBay spokeperson said: “For almost two months we have been introducing increasingly tougher measures against people who attempt to use eBay to exploit others — particularly in the current climate.
“We have removed these items and will take any necessary enforcement action against sellers who continue to try and list these sorts of items.
“Our monitoring and enforcement team, which has recently more than doubled in size, is working around the clock to block and remove listings like these, and we continue to work closely with authorities, including Trading Standards, to ensure our site remains a safe place to buy and sell.”
The Sun Online has gone to Amazon for comment.
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NHS England chief nursing officer Ruth May told HSJ: “I welcome Amazon and eBay’s swift action in taking these fake NHS lanyards down — but it is very sad that there are chancers out there trying to make a quick buck off the back of the generosity shown towards our NHS staff.”
She added: “Being an NHS staff member is a huge honour, but it requires dedicating your career and much of your life to serving the public — even in the most difficult of circumstances, like the unprecedented global health threat we face today.”
It comes after Britain turned blue on Thursday night and joined in a mass round of applause to thank NHS heroes battling deadly coronavirus.
Landmarks lit up for frontline healthcare workers, while Brits up and down the country clapped and whooped in a joint show of support.
Princess Charlotte, Prince George and Prince Louis joined in to show their support along with a host of celebs including Jamie Oliver and Amanda Holden.
Kensington Palace tweeted a video of the young royals, saying: “To all the doctors, nurses, carers, GPs, pharmacists, volunteers and other NHS staff working tirelessly to help those affected by #COVID19: thank you. #ClapForOurCarers #ClapForCarers #ThankYouNHS #ClapForNHS”.
Prince Harry and Meghan Mark also showed their support for Britain’s NHS heroes.
Sharing a post on their Instagram account, they wrote: “Thank you for all that you continue to do!
“Applauding you from across the pond #clapforourcarers #NHS.”
In the UK there are now 14,579 cases of the killer bug, which has seen 759 people lose their lives.
Last week we told how supermarkets including Iceland and Tesco announced special store hours for NHS staff so they can access food and essentials during the coronavirus epidemic.
It comes after one nurse made a tearful plea to fellow shoppers to stop stockpiling food and essentials after ending her 48-hour shift to find supermarket shelves empty.
Yesterday we reported how frontline Heathrow immigration officer and his daughter tragically died from coronavirus 24 hours apart.
Terminal 3 worker Sudhir Sharma, 61, passed away on Wednesday and pharmacist Pooja, 33, the following day.
