EPS investigating reports of vaccination scam targeting homeless population

EDMONTON -

Edmonton police are investigating reports that homeless people are being offered money to get vaccinated while pretending to be someone else.

A client at Boyle Street was approached by someone who wanted her to get a vaccine so the person offering money could pretend they had gotten the shot.

“She’s been approached by someone who’s wanting her to get vaccinated for COVID with this other persons health information, so their name and their birthday and their Alberta Health Care number,” said Linda Pires-Relvas, a Boyle Street Streetworks nurse.

According to Alberta Health Services, when someone gets a COVID-19 vaccine they are asked to provide a piece of identification such as:

• Alberta Health Care card
• Driver’s license
• Social Insurance Number
• Birth certificate
• Passport

“If a person doesn’t have a piece of government-issued identification available, other methods may be used to confirm the individual’s identity,” said a statement from AHS.

According to Pires-Relvas, her client isn’t the only one who has been approached.

“Some of her friends that she knows had also been offered money and gotten multiple vaccines,” said Pires-Relvas. “They had already gotten their own vaccines but now were getting third, fourths, fifths doses.”

“While COVID vaccines are safe and serious adverse reactions are rare, it is not advisable to have more doses than recommended,” added AHS. “In particular if doses are given too close together it increases the risk of having a reaction.”

Pires-Relvas is concerned that homeless people seem to be specifically targeted in these incidents.

“It’s really predatory that they’re going towards people who are vulnerable and are needing this money and are not going to pass it up as easily as someone else might you know,” said Pires-Relvas.

“As we saw when the vaccine incentive was thrown in by the province, for this group of people who are having a hard time making ends meet having a $100 incentive or now by this group more than that sometimes, it’s hard to pass up just getting a shot in your arm in exchange for money when you need that.”

AHS reported the claims of vaccination fraud to Edmonton police last week, according to EPS. They added anyone with information could call the EPS complaint line at 780-423-4567.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Amanda Anderson