Scammers are always looking for opportunities. Lately, they’ve been targeting people who’ve been vaccinated against COVID.
Once you’ve gotten your COVID-19 shots, be on the lookout for phony texts or emails offering you a prize for filling out a post-vaccine survey. In some cases, the “prize” is an iPad and all you have to do is pay for shipping by putting in your credit card information.
The US Department of Justice says what happens is you’re charged for the shipping, but never get the prize. And the bogus businesses have your personal information, which is the main goal of these so-called “phishing scams.”
Some are quite sophisticated. It can look like it’s a text from a government agency or social media company.
You might be excited to have received the vaccine and think, “Sure, I’ll fill out a survey.”
The best advice is, as with anything online, if it’s unsolicited and asks you to click on a link, don’t.
If you receive a text message or email claiming to be a COVID-19 vaccine survey and containing a link or other contact information, please report the communication to the National Center for Disaster Fraud by calling 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud.
