Scammers have taken over a phone number that used to host a Washington state vaccine hotline, and state officials say they’re using it to coax banking information from unsuspecting callers.
The Washington State Department of Health said this month it no longer owns the phone number 833-VAX-HELP, or 833-829-4357. In a Facebook post, the agency said people who called the number were asked for personal information, including bank account numbers.
It urged residents not to call the number and added the state agency would never ask for banking information.
Washington’s health agency as recently as 2022 promoted the hotline as an official venue to learn about preventing the spread of the mpox virus. Before that, it directed state residents to the number to learn about COVID-19 vaccines.
For official state vaccine information, the health department said Washington state residents should instead call 866-397-0337 or go to doh.wa.gov/you-and-your-family/immunization.
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