NEW YORK (WKBW) — The New York State Division of Consumer Protection and the New York State Department of Health have issued a warning to New Yorkers on a text message phishing scam related to vaccine verification.
Officials say the illegitimate text message shown above attempts to impersonate the NYSDOH in an attempt to steal personal information. The text message tells the recipient they need to enter their personal information to validate their vaccination status and provides a link that redirects to a fraudulent site. Officials say anyone who receives a text message like this should delete it right away.
To help protect against scams like this the NYS Office of Information Technology Services (ITS) and the Division of Consumer Protection recommend the following:
- DO exercise caution with all communications you receive, including those that appear to be from a trusted entity. Inspect the sender’s information to confirm the message was generated from a legitimate source.
- DO keep an eye out for telltale signs of phishing - poor spelling or grammar, the use of threats, the URL does not match that of the legitimate site. If the message does not feel right, chances are it is not.
- DON’T click on links embedded in an unsolicited message from an unverified source.
- DON’T send your personal information via text. Legitimate businesses will not ask users to send sensitive personal information through text message.
- DON’T post sensitive information online. The less information you post, the less data you make available to a cybercriminal for use in developing a potential attack or scams.
