2nd moderna vaccine appointment sms from 0879489425 - scam?

murfilein

so my wife is waiting for her 2nd moderna vaccine appointment.

today she received a text message - i attached an image

this looks nothing the both sms i got for my 2 biontech vaccines, and the first one my wife got for her moderna. these 3 came from 086 180 3701. and according to the hse website they only send from a 086 number.

but this one looks sketchy. any of you got one like this? will call hse helpline tomorrow morning to check with them...

Shield

I have never seen them worded like that along a demand that you reply with Y in the stated manner. If she did, I reckon your wife would get a call very quickly asking her to “confirm” all kinds of details, whereas in reality she would just be giving personal information to scammers about herself that they would use at a later date.

I would advise against interacting with that number, and contact the HSE when you’re free

Gremlinertia

Bogus, no reply is required for your appointment, do they have location and vaccine type correct? That would be worth reporting if so

fun loving criminal

Sketchy as fcuk. They also ask you to bring a face covering. Also you can see your appointment details when you login to the vaccine portal.

murfilein

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117685548#Comment_117685548

yes, the details are correct.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117685555#Comment_117685555

yeah i immediately logged in, but that still says "awaiting appointment"

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117685539#Comment_117685539

yup will call tomorrow

murfilein

ok, update, my wife just talked to hse, and they confirmed that this sms is legit? kinda weird, but ok.

even on Twitter @hselive replied that this is genuine.

MojoMaker

Excellent. Now the tinfoilers can relax.

ebbsy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117685874#Comment_117685874

It is weird.

Shield

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117685874#Comment_117685874

Good stuff. It was the right thing to do. Scammers will exploit anyone in any circumstance and this really does read like a scam, in particular with the demand to "reply Y". It ticks the 'reply to this number' box and the 'sense of urgency' box.

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117685918#Comment_117685918

And the "lack of any identifying information" box. The normal texts have your first name.

L1011

https://twitter.com/newschambers/status/1421161215770906630?s=19

In light of this, I'd question if the person in the HSE that you asked understood the question!

bee06

This is my 2nd dose text wording. Even if the HSE said yours was legit I wouldn’t be texting back. If the appointment doesn’t show on the portal I would still say it’s a scam.

COVID-19 vaccine Dose 2 appointment: Name here, age x years

- Appointment Number: 11111111

- When: Tuesday, date and time

- Where: City Hall Cork Vaccination Centre (CVC),

Anglesea Road,

Cork,

T12 T997

 

- Vaccine: Pfizer-BioNTech

- Read the patient information leaflet: http://hse.ie/pfizil

Bring your phone, photo ID and a face covering. If you do not bring photo ID, you cannot enter the vaccination centre.

Be on time but do not arrive more than 5 minutes before your appointment.

Please don't bring children to the vaccination centre - find options and read more about going to a vaccination centre: https://hse.ie/vacctr 

If you need to:

- reschedule your appointment, reply "New" to this text. 24hrs notice must be given to reschedule your appointment.

- ask a question about your appointment, call the COVID-19 helpline on 1800 700 700

murfilein

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117686125#Comment_117686125

yeah that how the first 3 text messages look like (for both my appointments and the first appointment of wifey)

i just called again, and they again confirmed that this is in fact legit... i dont know man. lets see

ddarcy

I know when I got my first dose of AZ that I needed to text back etc. This was all pre-portal as well.

i can see this though for Moderna as there are very limited stocks of it. So they may only be doing one day a week for it.

cee_jay

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117687487#Comment_117687487

I got my text for Moderna yesterday and it is in the same format for Pfizer messages.

bee06

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117687336#Comment_117687336

Very strange!

L1011

My partners Moderna text (yesterday, for a second dose) was the normal format.

This could be some admin team doing this weirdly (and absolutely against all standard data security rules). But if you replied, please be very very aware of phone scams going forward.

I'd suggest you independently log into the portal. Do not respond, or click any links.

All interaction with the HSE for mass vaccination centres can be done through the web portal.

The worst you can do by sending "Y" is confirm your phone number works though, even if it were a scam.

Also, did she actually attend P.U.C. ? If so, seems less likely it's gonna have that level of detail if it's a scam, as there are 3 vaccine centres in Cork, and the sms sender knows she's in Cork, and awaiting moderna

murfilein

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117688010#Comment_117688010

which portal do you mean exactly? where you login with first name, DOB, email and password? I've not noticed anything regarding interaction there, but will check again.

yes the first one was at PUC too.

Any appointment information, requests for consent / medical questions and so on can be answered in the portal.

If they have that amount of information about your partner's vaccine, it's very unlikely to be a scam tbh.

If it were something like a generic phishing text like: "Your HSE vaccine appointment has been changed : Click here to log in!" Or, if it were asking for details like your PPSN or DOB, I would be a lot more concerned.

It looks like some kind of manually entered alert.

questionmark?

I received the same. Rang HSE and fella I spoke to answered it as if he has got a few calls about people thinking it was a scam. Confirmed it was genuine. Second dose awaits.

murfilein

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117690633#Comment_117690633

cool - when is your second dose? let us know if everything was fine when you attended

murfilein

ok lads, update:

my wife drove to the appointment with a taxi today. i was working, couldnt drive her.

we checked the online portal 5 minutes before she left - it was still stuck at "awaiting appointment 2" and she didnt receive any further sms confirming the appointment.

she arrives, they only ask for id and the appointment time. her name was on the list and they let her in.

after the waiting time she leaves, catches a cab and comes back home. we check the portal - it jumped straight to Final vaccine dose received". oh boy, smh.

questionmark?

Can confirm my appointment was genuine. Was on the list and received my jab.