FAKE DNA tests are being sold online for just £45 – duping parents into thinking their own children aren’t theirs, a Sun Online investigation can reveal.
The results can be ordered with no proof in a matter of minutes and simply ask customers to fill in who they want to appear as a child’s biological mother or father.
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The results are promised to be delivered in less than an hour, with one website, fakednatest.com, promising “to help those in need”.
It comes after we told how mum Laura Jackson was JAILED after using a fake DNA report to con her ex partner Michael Brown into thinking their daughter wasn’t his.
Ms Jackson sent Mr Brown a fabricated report from a front company for fakednatest.com ‘Hunts Genetics’, to suggest another man was 99.99 per cent likely their daughter’s paternal dad.
Mr Brown was forced to fight the matter in court and has since proven his daughter is his, with his ex jailed following the scam.
But a Sun investigation found the online company which produces the bogus reports is still operating online – and more parents could fall victim to the operation.
The website fakednatest.com charges £45 for a “bespoke” DNA report – promising to deliver the desired result in one business hour.
The user can then simply fill out basic details and choose whether they want the DNA test to prove a relation or not.
When our investigator ordered a report from the site to claim his son wasn’t his, he was sent a three-page document from ‘Hunts Genetics’ five hours later proving just that.
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Alongside the results, a man appearing to be from the scientific-looking company, convincingly emailed: “Following your order for a DNA Paternity Test, please find confirmation of your results attached.”
The jargon-filled report claimed the investigator’s three-year-old child was not his real son – and worryingly insisted there was just a “0.0004 per cent” probability of paternity.
It added how scientists had performed a DNA test using the Hunts Genetics DualProcess “utilizing the Promega PowerPlex 21 (WEN ILS 500) and an ABI 3730 DNA analyser.
And to add to the sting, a number of so-called-experts had signed off the findings, concluding: “Based on our analysis, it is practically proven that [our investigator] is not the biological father.”
The website which also has a sister page, fakepaternity.com, is not unlawful and the ‘reports’ it produces are supposed to be used as pranks or jokes.
‘ULTIMATE PRANK’
Fakednatests.com tell users their teams are “ready to help you pull off the ultimate prank”.
But they also state: “Our company was formed not only for novelty purposes but to help those in need.
“Our unique experience ensures there is no way your friend, partner or family member will never discover you have used a fake paternity test company.”
Fakednatest.com claims to have a customer service team on hand in the UK, Ireland, Canada and US, however the team did not respond when approached for comment.
Pictures said to be of the company’s founder and vice president on the site also appear to be generic stock photos used elsewhere on the internet.
Meanwhile, the site’s front company Hunts Genetics is armed with a convincing website, an email contact, phone number and business address to make the bogus reports seem above board.
The phone number, however, rings through and a voicemail tells callers to email instead for the bluff to continue.
When The Sun went to the address listed on the Hunts Genetics website in London – which claims to accept DNA samples – the building was also empty.
We were told it had not been used in years.
The Sun has approached the director of the company listed as handling the payments for fakednatest.com for comment.
They are yet to respond.
Laura Jackson was sentenced at Winchester Crown Court to 12 months in prison in February this year – three years after she gave Michael Brown a fake paternity result.
A spokesperson for Hampshire Police, who dealt with Laura Jackson and Michael Brown’s case, said of the fake tests: “Officers spoke with all of the parties involved and no further offences were identified.”
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