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By Liam Verster
Scam Alert

Scammers trying to take advantage of COVID-19 vaccine roll-out

Feb 14, 2021 | 5:00 AM

The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre is warning of scammers trying to take advantage of people by using the vaccine roll-out to get personal and financial information from people.

The warning comes following the discovery of a string of incidents trying to target senior citizens in Alberta, where scammers told people they could pay to access their vaccines early.

“We’re seeing phone calls offering vaccination clinics or to get your vaccinations quicker. In some cases, they may represent themselves as government agencies such as the World Health Organization or Public Health Agency of Canada,” says Jeff Thomson, a Senior RCMP Intelligence Analyst at the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.

“In some cases they may ask you to make a payment or donation to sign up for your vaccine to get the vaccine quicker.”

When the recent surge of scam calls targeting seniors were addressed by the Alberta Government, who said there will not be any fees associated with the vaccine roll-out.

READ MORE: AHS, Hinshaw warn of vaccine-for-fee phone scam

Thomson says these calls aren’t the only method scammers have been using, with cases of emails or text messages providing a link to sign up for vaccines. He says these methods of communication are not standard practice for government agencies, and the recipients should not open the links.

He adds that scammers have been trying to take advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic since it began last March.

“The [fraudsters] have been quick to pick up on key trends and announcements from government agencies and departments and playing on the fear, the anxiety, the isolation around the pandemic,” said Thomson.

“As the news came out about vaccines, we certainly knew that they would be quick to jump on this and offer various scam scenarios to get the vaccine quicker, to jump the queue, and solicitations designed to harvest personal and financial information again.”

Thomson adds most scammers will try to create a sense of urgency, such as by warning that a person will miss their chance to get vaccinated if they do not respond, fill in a form or follow a link.

Anyone who gets these calls or messages are advised to follow the three R’s, recognize, reject, and report.

That involves recognizing that scammers are trying to incite an emotional response that leads to people giving up their information; rejecting the calls, emails and messages; and reporting these instances to the local police and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501.

Thomson says only about five per cent of all scams are reported in Canada, but he would like to see that number increase, so they can develop ways to better identify the trends and scams being used, and come up with solutions to stop the frauds.

by Liam Verster