LONDON (Reuters) – Scammers have defrauded people by falsely offering them COVID vaccines in exchange for payment, and some victims are receiving unidentified blows, Wales Health Minister said on Monday, echoing warnings from police in other parts of Britain.
A mass vaccination program is being run across the UK by the state-owned National Health Service (NHS), which provides all care, including vaccines, for free.
“There are several scams related to COVID, including a particularly nasty one in which people have been tricked into paying for a vaccine against COVID and then received an arm’s length,” said Vaughan Gething, Minister of Health in Wales. in an information session.
“I want to be clear, our NHS will never ask anyone to pay for a vaccine against COVID. These are free. The NHS will never ask you for your bank details and people who have not been identified as NHS staff will not they will deliver vaccines to the front door ”.
The minister’s warning came after the National Crime Agency (NCA) last week urged citizens to be alert, reporting that scammers demanded payment from elderly and vulnerable people in exchange for access to false or non-existent vaccines.
“The current level of reported fraud in relation to the vaccine remains very low, but it is increasing,” said Graeme Biggar, director general of the NCA’s National Economic Crime Center.
City of London police reported on Friday that a scammer had obtained £ 160 from a 92-year-old woman and hit her in the arm with what she described as a “dart instrument” after she appeared unannounced at home. his.
Britain is in devastating control of infections which has raised the UK’s total death toll to over 81,000 and led to the imposition of national closures in England and Scotland and strict restrictions in Wales and Northern Ireland.
Reports by Estelle Shirbon; edited by William James