Odisha Govt Cautions People About Booster Vaccine Scam; Know Modus Operandi Of This Online Fraud

Bhubaneswar: Amid the threat of the Omicron, online fraudsters are targeting people, especially senior citizens, in the guise of COVID vaccine booster dose.

While Odisha began inoculating health and frontline workers and people above 60 years of age on January 10, the E&IT department on Tuesday issued an advisory on the booster vaccine scam. It forewarned people to be vigilant about any phone calls regarding this vaccine dose.

The modus operandi is simple. The caller, who identifies himself as a government employee, contacts the senior citizens and enquires with them if they are double vaccinated. Sometimes they do not ask but inform you that “you are double vaccinated and are due for a booster dose”. The caller may share the date of vaccination and centre to make it look genuine.

Offering to help with the registration, the scamster then ask for the OTP and subsequently, money gets siphoned off from the victim’s bank account.

Notably, the eligible population, who have taken two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, can book the online slot on CoWin or walk into any COVID vaccination centre.

According to Health Department sources, messages will be sent to the phone numbers of the eligible persons once the gap of nine months is reached.

It is important to remember that there should be a gap of 9 months between the second dose and the precautionary dose. There will be no mix and match, and the third dose will be of the same vaccine received earlier.

The senior citizens with co-morbidities will not be required to produce a doctor’s certificate or prescription at the time of administration of the precaution dose.