Coronavirus vaccination scam warnings

Police are reminding people booking an appointment for a coronavirus vaccination to be vigilant after scammers targeted two vulnerable people in Sussex.

The first incident happened on Tuesday, 14 December, where the victim, received a text message to her mobile phone from what appeared to be the NHS.

The message stated that she was now eligible for her Covid booster with a link.

She filled out the form which included all her personal details such as her address and her banking details, where the form stated there was £1.99 fee for the booster hence the need for banking details.

Once the victim submitted the form she received a call from an 0800 number claiming to be her bank and told here there had been some fraudulent use on her bank account and she needed to move money to a new account which they had created for her. The man became aggressive, and used abusive language and made threats towards the victim. After hanging up, the victim called the police who attended to offer safeguarding and support under Operation Signature.

A second case involved a 91-year-old man from Pulborough, who received an email from what he thought to be a valid NHS email which said he needed to pay a £2.40 delivery fee for a PCR test. He followed that link and entered his credit card details. Later he questioned the legitimacy of the email and managed to block outgoing payments from his credit card.

Bernadette Lawrie, Operation Signature lead for Surrey and Sussex said: “We continue to see heartless fraudsters exploiting the pandemic to target individuals when they are at their most vulnerable. We would urge the public to be aware of the tactics being used including spoofing telephone numbers so they appear legitimate and remind people that the Covid-19 vaccines and NHS testing services are free and will not request your bank card details”.

To read more, including advice on how to report incidents of crime, please visit the Police website here.