Police chase vaccine message scammers

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-11-20 13:34

Police said yesterday they are tracking a "vaccine rumor" spread online and through text messages since Wednesday that wrongly says the A/H1N1 vaccine program has been stopped.

"The police are working with the health authority to get to the source," said a spokesperson with the Beijing public security bureau yesterday. "The Beijing municipal health bureau is leading the investigation and will announce its conclusion later."

The message began circulating on Wednesday afternoon on micro-blogging websites such as Sina and Twitter, as well as through mobile phones.

"The Beijing municipal government has suspended all A/H1N1 vaccinations and ordered a thorough assessment of the current vaccine," the message said. "It is undecided when the vaccination will restart."

The message was first circulated as a text message to the Bank of China's VIP clients, which was taken as from the bank.

The bank's service hotline however said it was not responsible, but is working with authorities to find out the source.

The Ministry of Health said there have been only two deaths in 10 million who have taken the vaccine.

However, the Beijing municipal health bureau said in an emergency notice released on its website on Wednesday evening that the government has not ordered a suspension of the inoculation plan citywide.

Deng Ying, director of Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said the current vaccines in Beijing have proved to be generally safe after being taken by 1.5 million residents.

The health authority told METRO the investigation was still under way yesterday, and the disease control authority said it will move on with the city's vaccination plan to offer free A/H1N1 vaccines to all residents by mid-December.

Vaccine manufacturers in Beijing said they have not been told to suspend vaccine production from any authority.

Meanwhile, Beijing police yesterday urged local residents not to be fooled by phone and Internet scams.

The number of such fraud cases through phone, SMS and online banking has almost doubled in Beijing from just over 5,000 cases last year to more than 9,100 so far this year, the Beijing police said at a press conference yesterday.

The total value of fraud cases this year topped 270 million yuan, but police said they only managed to recover 13 million yuan.

At the press conference, the police announced new measures against such fraud cases.

"The police has collaborated with some major banks to set up more security measures for transactions in excess of 20,000 yuan," Ma Xichu, head of the financial crime division of the Beijing police, told METRO.