COVID-19 vaccine scams are easy to find on the internet, says Georgia State University professor David Maimon, who specializes in researching cyber crimes.
One person said he could send 60 vials of any vaccine at a “discount” price of about $80 per vial, although the vaccines are not supposed to be sold for private use. Others offer to sell COVID-19 vaccination cards with U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention letterhead at the top. For $250, another person offered to not only provide a vaccination card but also register false information in a government vaccination database.
Many Georgians have had trouble setting up COVID-19 vaccine appointments, and scammers are increasingly trying to take advantage. State authorities, consumer watchdog groups and pharmaceutical companies all say they’re seeing an increase in vaccine scams.
Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr said during a webinar last week his office is seeing people offering to mail doses, people seeking payments to set up vaccine appointments and other fraudulent activity.
Pfizer has spotted websites designed to look like the pharmaceutical company’s trying to collect personal information from vaccine recipients, company official Lev Kubiak said during the webinar. The company has also observed counterfeit vaccines being used worldwide, he said.
“We worry about any criminal activity associated with the vaccine or related to the vaccine because it just shakes that confidence that people have about vaccines,” said Kubiak, Pfizer’s chief security officer.
Consumers are falling for other types of vaccine schemes as well. The IRS has warned about solicitations to invest in companies developing vaccines.
In an alert posted in March, the Better Business Bureau warned about text messages from someone claiming to be from Pfizer and offering cash or a free product in exchange for filling out a survey about its vaccine. Victims say they entered their credit card information to pay what they thought was a shipping fee. Instead, the scammers billed them many times more and never sent a product.
“In other versions, the form is actually a phishing scam that requests banking and credit card information,” the bureau says on its website.
In all, the bureau has received more than 2,100 complaints related to COVID-19 since February 2020, according to spokeswoman Simone Williams. More than 60 were reported by Georgians, she said.
From the early days of the pandemic to now, many complaints focused on counterfeit PPE, such as masks, and on claims that various products could prevent, treat or cure COVID-19. Unproven claims also have been a target of federal agencies.
In January, a federal court prohibited several companies operated by Matthew Ryncarz of Alpharetta from selling unapproved vitamin D products touted as treatments for COVID-19.
Now, the bulk of complaints are related to vaccines.
Maimon, who directs Georgia State’s Evidence-Based Cybersecurity Research Group, last year received federal funding to track online COVID-19 schemes and report findings to authorities.
He and the Georgia State team search the dark web for scammers.
Some, though, are out in the open, using eBay and other popular sites.
Maimon recalled one person contacting him several times about striking a deal to sell supposed vaccine doses.
“He was very pushy trying to sell me the product,” Maimon said.
How to spot fraudulent vaccine offers:
- Someone is offering to send you a dose. Vaccines cannot be shipped to individuals hoping to get a shot through the mail.
- Vaccines are offered for sale. Vaccine recipients do not have to pay for a shot.
- An email claims to have information about you, but you never signed up for it.
- A website asks you to provide personal information such as your bank account or health information. Fraudulent websites look very similar to legitimate ones. The only difference may be the URL address, so read it very carefully.
- A caller says they are from Medicare and is seeking personal details. Medicare will not call beneficiaries to offer COVID-19 related products, services or a benefit review.
If you think you are a victim of a scam or attempted fraud involving COVID-19, you can report it by calling the National Center for Disaster Fraud hotline at 866-720-5721 or the Georgia Attorney General’s Office at 404-651-8600.
Sources: Better Business Bureau, Federal Trade Commission, Georgia Attorney General’s office.
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