Bhubaneswar: Be alert and vigilant. The cyber fraudsters are on the prowl again. This time they are taking advantage of the COVID-19 vaccine and the panic surrounding it. Though the Government has been educating the public through various advertisements and announcements, people looking for an early jab of the vaccine are the ones likely to fall victim to such phone vaccine calls.
The fraudsters are calling up people and asking them to register for the COVID-19 vaccination. They have come up with enticing offers to ‘pay and register’ for getting priority to receive the first corona vaccine shot, police added.
The Commissionerate Police has warned people not to fall victim to the new type of fraud through which the fraudsters are trying to siphon off money from bank accounts.
In a tweet, the Commissionerate appealed to people not to respond to phone calls asking for COVID-19 vaccine registration.
“They first ask for various documents including Aadhaar and valid email ID. Later, to authenticate Aadhaar, they ask for OTP from people. When people share the OTP, money is siphoned off from the Aadhaar linked Bank Account,” tweeted Commissionerate Police.
Beware of a new #CyberCrime. Fraudsters are calling and asking for #COVID19 Vaccine Registration. They ask for Aadhar, email ID etc. subsequently to authenticate Aadhar, they ask for OTP is given, money is siphoned from Aadhar linked Bank Account. @Cyberdost pic.twitter.com/qQ0VDF1uOB
— DCP CUTTACK (@dcp_cuttack) January 11, 2021
It may be mentioned that the vaccine registration is only on the government app and no one will ever be asked to pay for it or to provide bank details. Anything that suggests otherwise is a fraud, police said. The Centre has introduced Co-Win App (Covid Vaccine Intelligence Work) and one has to register through the app to get the vaccine.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced on Monday that the frontline workers will be the first to be vaccinated from January 16 in the country. The entire cost of vaccinating 30 million health care and frontline workers will be taken care of by the Centre. Frontline workers include employees across government departments, the police, and civic bodies.
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