- The current pandemic has provided scammers new opportunities to defraud the public. The latest one is a fake COVID-19 vaccine “survey.”
- Experts say it’s illegal to buy vaccines or a vaccination card privately — and there can be legal consequences for doing so.
- They also say that you should be wary of any communication about the pandemic that doesn’t come from a recognized, official source, like the American Medical Association and others.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is warning Americans about reports received from across the country of a vaccine survey scam.
“No legitimate surveys ask for your credit card or bank account number to pay for a ‘free’ reward,” the FTC cautioned.
According to the FTC, people have reported receiving unsolicited emails and texts asking them to complete a limited-time survey about one of the available COVID-19 vaccines.
In exchange, people are offered a free reward — but asked to pay shipping fees.
“The COVID-19 vaccine provides scammers with a new angle on an old trick called the survey scam,” Adam Levin, founder of CyberScout and co-founder of Credit.com, told Healthline.
“We all like to help and [think] that our experiences have value. Unfortunately, our personal information does have value to scammers, and they also want our money,” he said.
Source: healthline