BBB’s Dennis Horton On Vaccine Cards, ID Theft, Spring Scams
Okay, so you're thrilled to have completed your two-shot COVID-19 vaccination program, and you want to share the good news with everyone. That's fine, but you need to be very wary about posting a photo of your vaccine card online.
Your better bet would be to just tell everyone you've been vaccinated. You don't need to provide your friends and family members photographic evidence. Considering what Dennis Horton, Director of the Rockford Regional Office of the Better Business Bureau (BBB) told us this morning on the WROK Morning Show, what can happen when you do post a shot of your card is enough to make you feel sick.
By sharing that photo on social media, you're giving the scam artists and I.D. theft specialists some information that they can use to swipe your identification. Dennis told us to think of it as giving someone pieces to help complete a puzzle.
The problem is that you're the puzzle, and solving it gives criminals a chance to put the pieces together that make up your identification. Just your full name and date of birth is enough for the more clever scammers to use to find your Social Security number. Then, they're off to the races, opening bank accounts in your name, taking loans in your name, etc.
Just don't post it.
Dennis also filled us in the folks who begin showing up in the Rockford area during Springtime storm season. Promising to repair storm damage to your home (real damage and phony), their main goal is to get you to part with a substantial down payment, or in a worst-case scenario, getting you to pay them for their "work" by giving them the entire amount up front. Either way, once they have your money, don't expect them to come back.
Dennis wrapped things up with an explanation of "password managers," and why you should look into getting one. With all the passwords we have to remember in today's world, we could all use a little help in the memory department.
Listen in, as the BBB's Dennis Horton give you the information to protect yourself:
LOOK: Answers to 30 common COVID-19 vaccine questions
While much is still unknown about the coronavirus and the future, what is known is that the currently available vaccines have gone through all three trial phases and are safe and effective. It will be necessary for as many Americans as possible to be vaccinated in order to finally return to some level of pre-pandemic normalcy, and hopefully these 30 answers provided here will help readers get vaccinated as soon they are able.