REDMOND, Wash. — The Redmond Police Department has already seen several different scams related to COVID-19, and now they’re bracing for another round connected directly to vaccines.
"We are anticipating it will follow other scams where people will call someone on the phone or text or email, maybe even show up door-to-door, and have a way for… how you can get higher on the list for the vaccination, you just need to pay a little bit of money,” said Public Information Officer Andrea Wolf-Buck.
While much has been written about Americans who say they won’t get the vaccine, or wait to see how well the early phases go — most people are expected to want it. So the allure of being able to jump the line to avoid waiting for months could make people particularly vulnerable to scams.
"Who is going to get it and when just creates a really, really ripe opportunity for people to take advantage,” Wolf-Buck said.
Since there is still little known about the order of vaccine distribution, that could be compounding the problem.
The Centers for Disease Control and the Washington State Department of Health say front line health care workers and emergency responders dealing directly with COVID patients would be in the first phase, along with the elderly—especially those in congregate care facilities like nursing homes.
But if you’re a healthy 35-year-old able to work from home and not in an essential job, determining exactly how long you will have to wait isn’t clear. Some states, like Massachusetts, have announced their approach, and say the time frame could be April through June.
“If somebody’s making the call and saying, 'I can get you in right now, a hundred bucks, meet me at the Walgreens,' that’s not going to be true," Wolf-Buck said. “Not legit at all.”
Redmond police have an investigator who deals solely with fraud and identity theft cases, and the department is also part of a regional task force that deals with scams. The FBI is also alerted and cases are often referred there, as it’s likely that the criminals are out of state, if not out of the country.
Another concern is that scammers could use a vaccine guise to harvest information for identity theft later, such as social security numbers, bank account numbers, birth dates and more.
Bottom line, Redmond police said be vigilant and if you get a call, text, email or even someone knocking on your door claiming they can get you early access to the vaccine, that is a scam. Do not to pay for a promise of vaccine access or share any personal information, police said.
The state also has information on other common scams associated with the pandemic, here.
