FBI Warns Of Ongoing COVID-19 Vaccine Related Fraud Schemes

US federal agencies have warned about scammers exploiting the public’s interest in the COVID-19 vaccine to harvest personal information and steal money through multiple ongoing and emerging fraud schemes.

The warning was issued earlier today through the FBI National Press Office by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

“The FBI, HHS-OIG, and CMS have received complaints of scammers using the public’s interest in COVID-19 vaccines to obtain personally identifiable information (PII) and money through various schemes,” the joint statement says.

Potential indicators of such fraudulent activity highlight by the FBI include offers for early access to vaccines conditioned by payment in advance, requests to pay out to receive a vaccine or to get added to a waiting list, and offers to ship doses of the vaccine in exchange of money transfers.

The FBI advises you to first search for vaccine distribution info on your state health department’s website to make sure that you don’t fall for the scammers’ fraud attempts.

You can also check for additional details with your primary care physician and only share health info with trusted medical professionals.

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FBI’s list of potential indicators of COVID-19 vaccine fraudulent activity includes:

• Advertisements or offers for early access to a vaccine upon payment of a deposit or fee
• Requests asking you to pay out of pocket to obtain the vaccine or to put your name on a COVID-19 vaccine waiting list
• Offers to undergo additional medical testing or procedures when obtaining a vaccine
• Marketers offering to sell and/or ship doses of a vaccine, domestically or internationally, in exchange for payment of a deposit or fee
• Unsolicited emails, telephone calls, or personal contact from someone claiming to be from a medical office, insurance company, or COVID-19 vaccine center requesting personal and/or medical information to determine recipients’ eligibility to participate in clinical vaccine trials or obtain the vaccine
• Claims of FDA approval for a vaccine that cannot be verified
• Advertisements for vaccines through social media platforms, email, telephone calls, online, or from unsolicited/unknown sources
• Individuals contacting you in person, by phone, or by email to tell you the government or government officials require you to receive a COVID-19 vaccine

The federal agencies urge everyone believing to have been the victim of a COVID-19 fraud to promptly report such attempts to the FBI (via ic3.gov, tips.fbi.gov, or 1-800-CALL-FBI) or to the HHS OIG (on tips.hhs.gov or at 1-800-HHS-TIPS).

The US Department of Justice has taken down two websites impersonating the Moderna and Regeneron biotechnology companies involved in the development of COVID-19 vaccines.

The almost perfectly cloned sites seized by the federal government were used for malicious purposes including running scams, infecting victims with malware, and harvesting sensitive info in phishing attacks.

More than 275,000 Americans have reported financial losses of over $211 million due to COVID-19-related scams since the start of this year according to data shared by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

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Multiple threat actors including state-sponsored hacking groups [1, 2] have also targeted organizations involved in the COVID-19 vaccine cold chain and research.