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FBI and DHHS Warn Public About COVID-19 Scams

This December is a Perfect Season For Scammers

December is a month of holidays, travel, and family gatherings.  Most years, December creates extra stress but makes up for it with special occasions enjoyed with family and friends.  This year, there will be less enjoyment of those special occasions and, for most of us, a lot more stress as we remain locked down awaiting the widespread dissemination of the COVID-19 vaccines.  The lockdown has many of us feeling disoriented, isolated, angry, or afraid. This is both perfectly normal and just the state of mind that scammers like to see.

Expect to see and/or hear about fake vaccine scams in the coming weeks.  The scams will differ in intent.  Some will encourage you to use your credit card or bank account to send the scammers money in order to assure vaccination quickly.  Others may simply ask you to fill out an online form with lots of personal information.  Some may even offer you a work-from-home job calling people about vaccination.  Whatever the scam is, the COVID-19 vaccine will be the bait.



From the FBI

Special Agent in Charge Timothy Thibault recently told ABC News:


"What we would say to the public is to be leery of and be on guard for scams related to telemarketing, malicious websites or emails where people are taking advantage of the initial supply-and-demand problem"



From the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS)

The DHHS Office of Inspector General issued an alert earlier this month warning:


  • Be vigilant and protect yourself from potential fraud concerning COVID-19 vaccines. You will not be asked for money to enhance your ranking for vaccine eligibility. Government and State officials will not call you to obtain personal information in order to receive the vaccine, and you will not be solicited door to door to receive the vaccine.

  • Beneficiaries should be cautious of unsolicited requests for their personal, medical, and financial information. Medicare will not call beneficiaries to offer COVID-19 related products, services, or benefit review.

  • Do not respond to, or open hyperlinks in, text messages about COVID-19 from unknown individuals.

  • Be aware of scammers pretending to be COVID-19 contact tracers. Legitimate contact tracers will never ask for your Medicare number, financial information, or attempt to set up a COVID-19 test for you and collect payment information for the test.

  • If you suspect COVID-19 health care fraud,report it immediately online or call 800-HHS-TIPS (800-447-8477).



Spotting Scams


There are two important components to any scam.  First, the scammer must offer to provide you with something you very much want, or to prevent something you very much don’t want.  Second, the scammer will create a sense of urgency to discourage you from doing any background check or even from thinking too hard about the offer.


If you receive email, phone calls, text messages, or anything else that appeals to your hopes and fears and tries to create a sense of urgency, be suspicious.  The more urgent it seems, the more you need to check out the source.


For more information about spotting potential COVID-19 scams, please visit:



If you do receive any email that you suspect is a scam, please do not even click on any URL or reply. Either of those actions confirms to the sender that your email address is valid. If you are a member of the UMBC community, please forward the message (with the email headers - see here for instructions)) to security@umbc.edu. 



References and Links to More Information




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Posted: December 16, 2020, 5:40 PM

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