People are being reminded that the Covid Vaccine is free and they should not give out their bank details to anyone.

Hyndburn Borough Council was forced to notify residents in the area after reports of people being offered a vaccine, then asked for their bank details and payment via phone, text or email.

This is a scam as the Covid-19 vaccine is free.

The Council posted, “If you are contacted and asked for payment for a covid-19 vaccine do not give any details and let the relevant authorities know.”

The vaccine is only available from the NHS and the NHS will contact you when it is your turn. At present, appointments are only being offered to the public over 80 years old.

The NHS will never ask you to press a button on your keypad or send a text to confirm you want the vaccine, and never ask for payment or for your bank details.

There has been a surge worldwide of vaccine related phishing email scams.

Phishing emails seen have contained malicious files that installed malware, or links to bogus websites to obtain the victim's information.

In other cases people are approached via text and from a recorded voice message on the telephone. In each case the recipient is required to respond by clicking a link in the text message or by pressing 1 when receiving the call.

They are then asked to give personal information, as well as financial details to book their vaccination.