Quebec's Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS) has issued a "call for vigilance," warning that fake vaccine passport apps have become available on the Google Play store.

"According to the information received, people have copied the visual developed for the VaxiCode app and have succeeded in having these fake applications approved for download on Google Play," says an MSSS press release. "Steps were taken with Google to have the fake apps removed as soon as possible."

The ministry notes that — while this type of copying of popular apps is becoming an "increasingly frequent problem" — the issue has nothing to do with the "integrity or security" of the official apps, which continue to be "secure and ensure the protection of personal information."

To ensure you're downloading the legitimate, official government app, check that the name of the app is exactly correct. For citizens, it should be called exactly "VaxiCode" with no other words before or after. For the merchant, it should be called exactly "VaxiCode Verif" without any other word before or after and without any accent.

The real VaxiCode and VaxiCode Verif apps only require authorization to access the device's camera or files and images and nothing else. VaxiCode also has no ads.

The fake apps are fairly easy to identify because they won't allow you to download your QR code.

You can find the official apps here.

Health Canada has a robust website with all the latest information on COVID-19 vaccines and can answer any questions you may have.