The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently alerted older Americans about fraud involving the COVID-19 vaccine.
In the guidance entitled “What the elderly need to know about COVID-19 vaccines”, posted on February 19, the CDC said that adults 65 years of age or older – one of the first groups eligible to receive the vaccine – should be aware that COVID 19 vaccines are “free” for those living in the United States
“If someone asks you to pay for access to the vaccine, you can bet it is a scam,” said the CDC in the guide. “Do not share your personal or financial information if someone calls, sends text messages or emails promising access to the vaccine for an extra fee.”
Although the vaccine is free, “your vaccination provider may charge your insurance to administer the vaccine,” noted the CDC. “Nobody can be denied the vaccine if they can’t pay that cost.”
MILLIONS OF N95 FALSE MASKS SENT TO VARIOUS STATES, THE FEDES SAY
Since the beginning of COVID-19, scammers have used the pandemic to take advantage of Americans’ fears and make quick money. Last week, for example, federal officials announced that they had seized about 11 million fake N95 masks as part of a federal investigation into imitations made abroad that were distributed to hospitals, medical facilities and others in at least five states.
Since the pandemic began more than a year ago, federal authorities have also seen an increase in fake websites that intend to sell vaccines, as well as fake medicines produced abroad, they said.
Overall, Homeland Security Investigations used its 7,000 agents, along with border officials, the Food and Drug Administration and the FBI, to investigate the scams, seizing $ 33 million in counterfeit products and arresting more than 200 people to date. The effort is based on the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center, a government oversight body that aims to enforce international trade laws and combat intellectual property theft.
In addition, to help Americans protect themselves from scammers, the Better Business Bureau earlier this month warned recipients of the vaccine to avoid sharing their COVID-19 vaccination cards on social media.
Personal card information, which is used to track who has been vaccinated or not, can be used by scammers to create and sell imitation cards, the BBB said at the time, citing reports from individuals in Britain who were caught selling cards fake on eBay and TikTok.
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“Unfortunately, your card has your full name and birthday, as well as information about where you got the vaccine,” said the organization. “If your social media privacy settings are not high, you could be providing valuable information for anyone to use.”
Lucas Manfredi of Fox Business and the Associated Press contributed to this report.