Fraud Watch: Vaccine scams post a threat to public health

By ELLIOTT GREENBLOTT
We have passed the one-year mark for the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic and in conjunction with safe practices and vaccines, we are now moving out of the darkness and back in to the sunlight. Sadly, the same cannot be said to scams and con artists who thrive on COVID-19. New scams have emerged focusing on vaccines.

A significant portion of the public is averse to vaccination and criminals know this. A number of the anti-vax postings on social media are counting on this hesitation. Text messages, emails and social media posts promote an attractive and acceptable alternative; a regimen of tablets or even a single capsule that provides the same, if not better protection from the virus. While Pfizer scientists indicate that such a pill may be produced by the end of the year, there is no such remedy available anywhere in the world today.

These fake cures leave unprotected victims who pay hundreds if not thousands of dollars for placebos. Even as bad as that is, this scam becomes worse. It endangers the public, encouraging unprotected people to forego protective items and socialize. This scam, as so many related to COVID, is a “perfect storm” and reinforces the need to remind readers of basic protective recommendations. It taps our underlying fear of the virus and our human desire to allay that fear. The scam reaches out to us personally with a simple solution — a pill.

Excuse the pun but a pill is much easier for most of us to swallow than a series of injections.

This is a case of wishing something to be true to the point of clouding judgment. Consider this: If a simple remedy, “pop a pill and COVID goes away,” was available, it would be blaring across the media, on the front pages of newspapers, and on the Amber Alert signs everywhere, not coming to you as an overnight email message.

Tip No. 1: Don’t let emotion overtake you. Step back and think before you act and consider what is offered. These criminals want you to be emotional and act immediately. Ignore the message to act now.

Tip No. 2: Ask questions. Is the remedy approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)? Can you send me the results of the clinical trials? What company manufactures the product? Odds are that the answer to these questions will be no!

Tip No. 3: Consider how the seller wants payment? Any mention of gift cards is a dead giveaway that this is a scam.

Tip No. 4: Beware of targeted emails. These things are very deceptive. In particular, examine the email address of the sender. Gmail, Ymail, Hotmail addresses are not used by businesses.

Tip No. 5: Conduct background research. Check with your state department of health. They would know if such a cure existed. Sometimes a simple “Googling” will reveal the truth.

Tip No. 6: Report the crime. These offers are criminal so call or go on line to your state consumer assistance agency or attorney general’s office and file a report. The crime can be reported at the national level with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). By the way, these tips can be applied to other offers and deals that raise the question, “Is this too good to be true.”

A second new COVID-19 scam is gaining popularity with the same negatives as what was described above. Criminals discovered that there is a lucrative business in the sale of bogus COVID-19 vaccine cards. The process is actually quite easy and requires very little sophistication. Obtain a valid COVID-19 vaccine card displaying the details of a complete vaccine administration. Scan the card on a relatively inexpensive scanner and use editing software to change the name on the card and you have “proof” of vaccination (fake cards are also available on the internet for $100 to $200). With card in hand you can go to sporting events, take commercial flights, attend concerts and much more.

Finally, report the scams: the Federal Trade Commission, ftc.gov, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, ic3.gov, and state level in New Hampshire, doj.nh.gov/consumer at (888) 468-4454, and in Vermont, ago.vermont.gov/cap/consumer-complaint at (800) 649-2424.

AARP Vermont Fraud Watch offers a biweekly series of online seminars free to everyone. Each program is offered twice, once at 10 a.m. (bit.ly/3ayN7Z7) and another at 7 p.m. (bit.ly/3pApZ0P).

Questions, comments, concerns? Contact [email protected].

Elliott Greenblott is a retired educator and the Vermont coordinator of the AARP Fraud Watch Network. He produces a feature CATV program, “Mr. Scammer,” distributed by GNAT-TV in Sunderland.