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FILE PHOTO: Vials labeled “COVID-19 Coronavirus Vaccine” are placed on dry ice in this illustration taken on December 5, 2020. REUTERS / Dado Ruvic / Illustration
LONDON – Scammers have been defrauding people by offering them COVID vaccines in exchange for payment, and some victims have received unidentified beatings, the Welsh health minister said on Monday, echoing warnings from police in other parts of Britain. .
The state-owned National Health Service (NHS) is running a mass vaccination program across the UK, providing all care, including vaccinations, free of charge.
“There are a number of COVID-related scams, including a particularly nasty one where people have been tricked into paying for a COVID vaccine and then had their arm pricked,” said Vaughan Gething, Wales Minister of Health. in a briefing.
“I want to be clear, our NHS will never ask anyone to pay for a COVID vaccine. These are free. The NHS will never ask for your bank details and people who have not been identified as NHS personnel will not deliver vaccines to your doorstep. “
The minister’s warning came after the National Crime Agency (NCA) last week urged the public to be vigilant, reporting that scammers were demanding payment from the elderly and vulnerable in exchange for access to vaccines that were bogus. or nonexistent.
“The current level of reported fraud related to the vaccine is still very low, but it is increasing,” said Graeme Biggar, Director General of the NCA’s National Center for Economic Crimes.
City of London police reported Friday that a scam artist had obtained 160 pounds from a 92-year-old woman and struck her on the arm with what she described as a “dart-like instrument” after he appeared without notice at home. .
Britain is in the grip of a devastating surge in infections that has raised the overall death toll from COVID-19 in the UK to more than 81,000, prompting the imposition of national closures in England and Scotland and strict restrictions in Wales and North Ireland.
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