North Vancouver-Lonsdale NDP MLA Bowinn Ma is warning the public about an attempt by scammers to fleece people seeking a government payment for getting vaccinated against COVID-19.
The scam comes via text messages purporting to be from the B.C. government’s “Vaccine Incentive Program,” promising a $100 e-transfer. The bogus message includes a link for people to click on.
“I very carefully tested it out. It is very convincing. It starts with a check to see if you're a robot and then it asks you to sign into your online banking system and it all looks very realistic, but it is 100 per cent a scam,” Ma said. “The B.C. government would never ask you for your banking information through text or email like this.”
The Ministry of Health became aware of the scam last week, Ma said, and she has reported it to the North Vancouver RCMP.
“Anybody could fall prey to it if they didn't know that there was no such incentive,” she said.
The province is not and has never offered money to people to get their shots, as some other jurisdictions have tried. The incentive to get vaccinated should be the well-documented proof that it will likely keep you out of a hospital gurney, Ma said.
“It is still very effective at preventing serious injury and illness due to COVID-19 and that's really important to our communities right now because our health-care systems are just stretched so, so thin,” she said. “We need to be able to help them out by keeping ourselves out of hospital and also keeping others out of hospital by encouraging them to get vaccinated as well.”
As of Jan. 28, 90 per cent of B.C. residents over the age of 12 had been double vaccinated while 47 per cent had received a booster dose.
