CDC, City Public Health Director Warn Against Fraudulent H1N1 Email

City Public Health Director Karen Rose is urging people to beware of an email instructing them to create a swine flu (H1N1) vaccination profile on the Center for Disease Control (CDC) website.

According to information released by the CDC, a “phishing” email is going around referencing a CDC-sponsored state vaccination program in which people must create an H1N1 vaccine profile on the CDC website, www.cdc.gov. The email also says that anyone that has reached the age of 18 has to have a personal vaccination profile on the cdc.gov website.

The CDC says it has not implemented a state vaccination program that requires registration on its website. The CDC warns that the email is fraudulent and is an attempt to steal personal information. People that click on the email are at risk of having malicious code installed on their computer.

People are encouraged to take the following step to prevent becoming a victim of an email phishing scam:

-Do not follow unsolicited links and do not open or respond to unsolicited email messages.

-Use caution when visiting un-trusted websites.

-Use caution when entering personal information online.

For more information about the fraudulent email and other scams, visit www.cdc.gov/hoaxes_rumors.html.

– InsideMedford.com