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Almost a year later people are getting their vaccines and letting people know via social media posts. Sgt. Roy Hoskins with the St. Joseph Police Department wants people to know that sharing any bit of personal information online could potentially result in scam.
Over the past several months, social media has been flooded with people taking pictures with their COVID-19 vaccine cards. Another hurdle could ensue for those who post these cards on social media as it is an easy personal information grab for scammers.
“I would 100% not recommend posting anything, flight or boarding passes, IDs, stimulus checks, anything with your name on it just to be safe,” Crime Prevention Sgt. Roy Hoskins with the St. Joseph Police Department said. “Just your name might not be enough in itself for a scammer to get something from you but that is a piece of a puzzle.”
Posting the records of your shots online just with a name, date of birth and vaccination date opens up windows for identity theft.
“Another scam is someone posing as a contact tracer just using your name and asking for more personal information for their file,” Hoskins said. “There is another avenue of how they could use your name.”
The Federal Trade Commission has been asking citizens for months not to post pictures of the card on social media. If you have made a post already, it is never too late to take it down.
The FTC says posting these cards is essentially handing valuable information over to scammers to use that could lead to fraud and identity theft. The FTC recommends that you take a picture of your bandage or the vaccine sticker and post it on social media.
Fraud and identity theft is not the only thing that needs to be worried about when posting these cards online. Counterfeit vaccine cards are being sold to people to get their vaccine faster, which would eliminate the actual card owner’s chances for a second dose.
“If people weren’t eligible, stealing a card off the internet would allow people to get ahead in line for their vaccine,” Hoskins said.
The FBI recently just put out a public service announcement about those buying or making fake COVID-19 vaccination record cards.
According to the announcement, the FBI said “fake vaccination record cards have been advertised on social media websites, as well as e-commerce platforms and blogs.” The advisory lists what markers used to identify fraudulent cards.
To report any fraudulent sales call: 1-800-HHS-TIPS or visit www.oig.hhs.gov. Hoskins added that if there is any fraudulent activity that has been noticed, call the St. Joseph Police Department’s crime prevention line at 816-236-1473.