People are being warned to be wary of COVID vaccine scams, with fraudsters already using the rollout to harvest money and personal information from unsuspecting users online.

There are already fraudulent emails, texts and websites in circulation, often impersonating official government sources to appear legitimate.

Fraud specialist Gavin Levenson told 6PR’s Gareth Parker scammers will take advantage of any situation which exposes vulnerable people.

“The imminent vaccine distribution is the perfect opportunity for fraudsters to extract money, or information or personal details from the unsuspecting public,” he said.

“The general method will be to impersonate state or national health departments, promising the opportunity to skip the cue in return for money or information.”

People are being urged to independently verify information and to be wary of unsolicited messages.

Mr Levenson said official government messages “will not ask for information, and they will definitely not ask for money.”

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(Photo: Thomaguery/ Getty Images.)