The Department of Health reports an increasing number of COVID-19 scams and kūpuna and other Hawai‘i residents are not immune from being targeted.
A press release from the Hawaiʻi Department of Health says the DOH, in collaboration with the Office of the Attorney General, Executive Office on Aging’s Senior Medicare Patrol Hawaiʻi (SMP), and the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, is alerting Hawai‘i residents about new COVID-19 vaccination scams.
Scammers usually send phone and text messages demanding individuals to call back to receive a COVID-19 vaccination in exchange for money. Callers may falsely claim the vaccine will be available only for three months for $1,000, a limited time to create a false sense of urgency, as in a recent case involving a call from Jamaica to a Hawai‘i resident.
Dr. Elizabeth Char, director of the Hawaiʻi Department of Health said, “all COVID-19 vaccinations are free. At no time should anyone pay for the vaccine. Everyone, including kūpuna, will eventually have an opportunity to receive their vaccine.”
SMP Hawaii offers the following tips to avoid being taken by a scammer:
- No one who calls from the Hawai‘i State Department of Health or its trusted partners concerning the COVID-19 vaccination will ask you for a Social Security, bank account, credit card number or related personal information.
- No one can pay to “jump ahead of the line” and receive earlier access to a vaccination
- Legitimate authorities do not ask for payment in exchange for the vaccine just hang up.
Photo Courtesy of Hilo Medical Center