OTTAWA – COVID-19 vaccine scams and scams are ongoing in Canada.
The Canadian Anti-Fraud Center (CAFC) says it has received a good number of reports to this effect.
In particular, the Anti-Fraud Center asks the public to be wary of emails relating to the coronavirus and messages about COVID-19 vaccines received by email or text messaging. One should also be wary of private companies that offer rapid tests for COVID-19, as only health care providers can perform the tests and no other test is genuine or guarantees accurate results.
Among the scams reported so far is receiving an email with links or content about COVID-19 vaccines. By clicking on them, the computer screen freezes; we then ask to dial a toll-free phone number and then demand a sum of money to unblock the account.
The Canadian Anti-Fraud Center has also seen telephone offers of home vaccine kits. In this case, a person claiming to work for a pharmaceutical company calls to offer a vaccine administered in six doses that the victim will receive in the mail and for which he will have to pay a large sum of money.
The Anti-Fraud Center reports that criminals can have a multitude of faces during the COVID-19 pandemic. They can pose as loan or financial services companies that offer debt consolidations, be representatives that offer duct cleaning services or air filters to protect against COVID-19, and people who sell false lists of people with COVID-19 in the neighborhood where the victims live.
Some are posing as representatives of the Public Health Agency of Canada and falsely claiming to victims that they have tested positive for COVID-19. They then trick them into confirming their health card and credit card numbers for a prescription.
Authorities are urging Canadians not to purchase doses of COVID-19 vaccines online or from unauthorized sources. They recall that the only way to have access to safe and effective vaccines is to go through clinics organized or approved by the local public health authority.
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