A POWYS women’s organisation is warning of a sophisticated New Year scam that might tug at the heartstrings of many vulnerable residents as it concerns paying money to the NHS for the coronavirus vaccine.

Powys Radnor Federation of Women's Institutes has circulated information to its members about the “particularly nasty email scam”.

“There is a scam going round which you might like to warn the federation about,” Powys treasurer Jackie Smith warns in her email, which she says was brought to her attention by a member from Presteigne.

“People are being sent an e-mail supposedly from the NHS asking them to fill out a form if they want to have a vaccination against Covid-19. They are asking for personal details and ultimately details of a bank account in order to pay.

“We know this is not necessary as every eligible person will be contacted by their surgery in order of priority and more importantly there is no charge but this is a clever scam with no spelling mistakes or obvious alarm bells.

“There is always someone looking to make money when people are at their most vulnerable so I thought I should pass this on as a lot of our members will be waiting to hear when it will happen. It is always worth reminding our members to be vigilant and not to believe everything they read.”

To learn more about the Welsh Government’s Covid-19 vaccination programme, visit their website at https://gov.wales/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccination-programme.

Or visit the UK Government’s website at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/covid-19-vaccination-programme.