CAPE CORAL — A new scam is targeting seniors as they wait to schedule an appointment for the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
A Cape Coral woman tells us she got a call and even started giving out her information before realizing it was a fraud.
fox 4 reporter rob manch spoke with her and has the details tonight.
The scam targets people waiting for a call to schedule their vaccine appointments. The man who called Joann Cordero already had her first name, and new that she had received the first dose.
Cordero said her phone rang about 10 minutes after she got a text telling her to expect a call from the vaccine hotline.
"He started off by saying I’m calling to tell you about your second dose vaccine. So Joann, I need to ask you some questions," said Cordero.
The number the scammer was calling from was (239) 210-7924. The number the text told her to expect a call from was (239) 299-0897.
The scammer started asking Cordero about information she had already provided when she got her first dose at the Lee County site. Stuff like her address and her email.
"In my mind I was saying this doesn’t sound right. I said to him you know, you have all the information on this paper I left when I first received my first vaccine, and all of a sudden there was a click," said Cordero.
We reached out to the company Better Qualified ID Shield, which monitors people’s credit.
"What surprises me is that it would happen so quickly," said co-founder Eric Stuerken.
Stuerken said there are three things scammers are always trying to get when they call.
"A lot of times, they’re going to want the social security number, the date of birth, and the address, because with that, they then can obtain their identity," said Stuerken.
Cordero said she’s still waiting on her actual call to schedule her second dose. She just wants other seniors to know this scam is targeting people like them.
"I just hope to God that no other seniors will fall for this, because we’re so desperate to get that second shot," said Cordero.
We also heard from the Lee County Sheriff’s Office. A deputy we spoke with said you should always report a scam like this to them so they can be aware of it, and the Department posts regularly about these issues on its social media accounts.
If you feel like you've been the victim of a scam, you can call the Sheriff's Office at (239) 258-3292.
You can also call Florida's vaccine help line at (888) 499-0851.
