Beware! A dangerous fake NHS text has been circulating, telling people they're eligible to apply for the Covid-19 vaccine. Thank you to Saxmundham's IP17 Good Neighbour Scheme, who kindly passed this warning on to us. In fact, even the presence of a spelling mistake in the text — "we have identified that your are eligible" — should warn one that all is not well!
The text may look like the example shown above, or it may not. To prevent "queue-jumping", NOBODY can APPLY for the vaccine — you will be invited when your particular Priority Group is reached. Just now they are vaccinating the top two priorities, "residents in a care home for older adults and their carers", plus "all those 80 years of age and over, and front-line health and social care workers".
(For technical reasons, the www.actionfraud.police.uk link above won't work, but this one will.)
You will see that the website referred to is made to look like a genuine NHS website. However, be immediately suspicious of any call for vaccination that asks you to connect to any website without a GOV.UK or NHS.UK suffix — unless you positively recognise it as being that of your doctor's surgery (which locally are NHS.UK or NHS.NET websites). The vaccination advice on the Government website states that "You will ... need to be registered with a GP surgery in England, [and] you can register with a GP if you do not have one" — if you click on this link, you'll see it takes you to an NHS.UK website. The invitation is based initially on your GP's records — and if your GP doesn't know your mobile number, obviously a genuine invitation won't arrive by text.
Remember that the NHS know who you are, from information supplied by your GP. They also know which of the (currently) nine Priority Groups you fall into, which are listed here — or indeed if you fall outside the groups for now. That's why THEY WILL CONTACT YOU sooner, or will contact you later. Beyond the normal confirmation that you are "the right person", there is no reason for them to ask you searching questions about your address or especially your financial information — as the vaccination is free, WHEREVER IT IS GIVEN. The fake NHS website above is asking for a card number.
The genuine invitation for your vaccination will want you to confirm your current state of health, and whether you have been in contact with the virus — so that you don't endanger the vaccination staff, or others attending at the same time (or later) for their jabs.
☞ How to be confident that you are connected to a valid website
If you don't feel competent to judge, refer to someone you know and trust, with the experience to check it out for you.
You can always check the validity of a website by clicking on the locked-padlock icon in the address window, at the top left of your screen, and confirming that the site's registration details are compatible with who you expect them to be — if the padlock is crossed through or "greyed out" or open (unlocked), or there is no padlock, then it is NOT a secure site. The webpage address should also begin "https://" — the letter "S" (for "secure") is the important thing. [Please email the Webmaster with details of any other scenarios that you might encounter. — thanks]