LONDON (Reuters) – Scammers have defrauded people by falsely offering them COVID vaccines in return for payment, with some victims receiving unidentified scams, the Welsh Health Minister said on Monday, echoing police warnings in other parts of Britain. .
A mass vaccination program is being run across the UK by the state-run National Health Service (NHS), which provides all care, including free vaccines.
“There are a number of scams involving COVID, including a particularly nasty one in which people were tricked into paying for a COVID vaccine and then stabbed in the arm,” said Vaughan Gething, Minister of Health for Wales, at a news conference.
“I want to make it clear, our NHS will never ask anyone to pay for a COVID vaccine. These are free. The NHS will never ask for your bank details and vaccines are not being delivered to your door by people who have not been identified as NHS employees. “
The minister’s warning came after the National Crime Agency (NCA) asked the public last week to be vigilant, reporting that scammers were asking elderly and vulnerable people for payment in exchange for access to fake or non-existent vaccines.
“The current level of reported fraud in relation to the vaccine remains very low, but it is increasing,” said Graeme Biggar, Director General of the NCA’s National Center for Economic Crime.
London City Police said on Friday that a scammer had taken £ 160 from a 92-year-old woman and stuck it in her arm with what she described as a “dart-like instrument” after it appeared without warning at her home. .
Britain is suffering a devastating outbreak of infections that has raised the total number of COVID-19 deaths in the UK to over 81,000 and has led to the imposition of national blockages in England and Scotland and strict restrictions in Wales and England. Northern Ireland.
Reporting by Estelle Shirbon; edition by William James