Wednesday, February 17, 2021 Vol. 44, No. 7
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New scam targetting those eager to be vaccinated against COVID-19 Anti-fraud Centre warns: “Do not buy vaccines online or from unauthorized sources” Leslie Cholowsky Staff Reporter
Alberta Health Services sent out a province-wide warning last Wednesday, Feb. 4 warning Albertans of a new scam involving COVID-19 vaccinations. In this scam, which targets elderly Albertans, some people are receiving phone calls telling them they can make an appointment to be vaccinated, if they pay for it. “AHS will never ask for payment for COVID-19 immunization,” AHS says. The organization says if you receive such a call, hang up and report the call to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, at 1-888-495-8501. No Albertan who wants to receive a vaccination will need to pay for it, and there is no preferential vaccination available to those who think they can get vaccinated sooner if they are willing to pay. RCMP have reported a number of new scams popping up throughout Canada that are COVID-19 related. If you receive an unsolicited email about COVID19 or the vaccine, do not open it. A number of these
have malicious attachments designed to grab personal information. Some people report getting phone calls from scammers claiming to work for a company who produces vaccines, offering to send a ‘vaccine system’ for a mere $250, to be self-administered on arrival. Northwest Territories RCMP Financial Crimes Division’s Cst. Landon King says, “We are concerned the current environment surrounding COVID19 and the release of the vaccine has created a situation where some of our residents may be more vulnerable to these frauds and scams. “Please protect yourself and your loved ones and be very careful of any COVID19-related messages or calls. Please authenticate the information.” There are also scams involving fraudulent treatments or cures, and also those who offer fast testing kits for sale. There are even scams where the scammer offers to sell a list of names of people currently infected with COVID-19 near you. If you receive an email from any source offering to
help you access federal or provincial relief program applications out of the blue, it’s a good bet that it is another scammer looking to collect your personal information. If you didn’t contact anyone for assistance, be wary of any unsolicited offers to do so. There are others who are trying to scam people into making donations to fraudulent “charities” researching COVID-19. In some cases, scam emails may appear to come from a familiar email address or text message.
Always follow up with the sender if something appears suspicious. Just this week, a local business received an official-looking email from the Town of Killam with a link, that when followed, was asking for an email address, and email password. On second look, the sender’s actual email was not related to the town at all, even though the email bore the town logo and appeared to otherwise be legitimate. The email was reported to the Town, and they promptly issued a warning to oth-
ers via social media. When you get an email from any government authority, if that’s not your normal form of communication with them, and especially if you don’t recall ever sharing your email with them, exercise caution. As the Town advises, “The Town of Killam will never ask you to sign in to read an email.” The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre has received 11,502 Canadian reports of COVID-19 fraud, with 9,797 victims reporting $7,000,000 lost to fraudsters and scams.