Scam targeting residents who received COVID-19 vaccination

KING CITY, Calif. (KION) The King City Police Department is warning residents of a scam targeting people who have received their COVID-19 vaccination.

The department says victims will either be targeted via email or text after receiving their COVID-19 vaccine, asking them to participate in a fake post-vaccine survey. The survey promises either cash or a prize, like an iPad Pro, once completed.

All the victim needs to do is submit their credit card information to pay for shipping and handling to receive their "prize," however, the prize never comes.

The department says the victims are exposing their personally identifiable information to the scammers, which increases the probability of their identity being stolen and/or sold.

To prevent a scam like this from happening to you, it's important to note that Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson are not conducting post-vaccine surveys. The department says any emails seeking personal financial information sent on behalf of these companies are fake. Do not open any of the messages or respond with any personal information.

If you are victim to a post-vaccine survey scam:

• Report the activity to the online payment service used for the financial transaction.
• Contact your bank upon discovering any fraudulent or suspicious activity within your account(s).
• Report the crime to www.IPRCenter.gov.