By Danny Federico Riverbend News
On Thursday, Jan. 7, Attorney General Ashley Moody issued a Consumer Alert about COVID-19 scams involving misleading webpages charging for vaccine appointments. According to the release, scammers have taken to using the event website Eventbrite to pose as county health departments in attempt to take payments in exchange for COVID-19 vaccine appointments.
"Consumer Protection investigators and criminal prosecutors in my office are aggressively pursuing reports of scammers taking money in exchange for phony COVID-19 vaccine reservations," Attorney General Moody said. "If you have been a victim of this scam, please contact my office so we can end this fraud and help protect those seeking vaccinations."
States are overseeing the free vaccine distribution rather than the federal government. While several Florida counties have turned to ticketing services like Eventbrite to help manage appointment scheduling, no county is charging for vaccine reservations.
The following tips are recommended to help Floridians avoid COVID-19 vaccine-related scams:
Know that anyone asking for money in exchange for an appointment is a scam.
Check with county health departments for local vaccine distribution guidelines.
Be wary of any website where pop-up ads solicit a vaccine appointment.
Look for "https" or a padlock icon in the website name to ensure that you are on a secure website.
Report suspicious solicitations or COVID-19 vaccine-related advertisements to the Attorney General's Office by calling 1(866) 9NO-SCAM or vising MyFloridaLegal.com.
Since the COVID-19 emergency declaration last March, Attorney General Moody has issued more than 30 Consumer Alerts with information about emerging scams and tips to avoid fraud. To view the latest alerts and to stay up to date on related scams, please visit the Attorney General's Consumer Alert website at MyFloridaLegal.com/ConsumerAlert.
To view all of Attorney General Moody's COVID-19 related releases, along with additional tips and resources, visit MyFloridaLegal.com/covid19.