Two Irish tech enthusiasts have registered the 'Irish COVID Certificate Portal' web address, after discovering the official Government site had a typo in the URL.
The Government earlier launched a site to allow people who have recovered from coronavirus to apply for a Digital COVID Cert.
It comes after the helpline for the certs was overwhelmed with calls since launching on Monday, meaning most people couldn't get through.
There was just one problem - the official URL of the webpage (irishcovidcertifcateportal.org) contained a typo - 'certifcate'.
The Government directs people to the page with the typo through its own main website, indicating the spelling error was a legitimate mistake.
Spotting the error, two Irish men quickly registered the correct URL:
So, @osslate and I spotted a bit of Irish government incompetence and decided to have some fun, primarily because we were also worried some scammers might actually grab the URL and do harm with it lolhttps://t.co/YGRsuG756b pic.twitter.com/WPPz5cYNC5
— Adam Conway (@AdamConwayIE) July 23, 2021
Adam Conway and Fionn Kelleher say they bought up the site as they "spotted a bit of Irish government incompetence and decided to have some fun".
However, Adam said they were primarily concerned some "scammers might actually grab the URL and do harm".
They've now used the website as a way of directing people to the official one.
Visitors are greeted with the message suggesting they "spelled 'certificate' correctly unfortunately", as well as a link to the Government's site.
