From staff reports
The U.S. Department of Justice said it has received reports that scammers are creating fraudulent COVID-19 vaccine surveys for consumers to fill out with the promise of a prize or cash at the conclusion of the survey.
Those surveys are used to steal money from consumers and unlawfully capture consumers’ personal information, according to a department news release.
Consumers receive the surveys via email and text message, and are told that, as a gift for filling out the survey, they can choose from various free prizes, such as an iPad Pro, the department said. The messages claim consumers need only pay shipping and handling fees to receive their prize.
Unless from a known and verified source, the department warned, consumers should not click on links in text messages or emails claiming to be a vaccine survey.
Schemes that use links embedded in unsolicited text messages and emails in attempts to obtain personally identifiable information are commonly referred to as phishing schemes, the department said. Messages could appear as though they come from government agencies, financial intuitions, shipping companies and social media companies, among many others.
Anyone receiving a text message or email claiming to be a COVID-19 vaccine survey and containing a link or other contact information should report it to the National Center for Disaster Fraud at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF web complaint form: www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud.
Intellectual property crimes such as these also may be reported to federal law enforcement at the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center (IPR Center): www.IPRCenter.gov.
Anyone who believes they might have entered information into a fraudulent website can find resources on how to protect information at www.identitytheft.gov.