Health department warns of H1N1 scam

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has verified reports of fraudulent e-mail messages referencing a CDC sponsored "State Vaccination Program," according to a news release from Saline County Health Department Friday, Dec. 4.

The phishing messages request users create a personal H1N1 vaccination profile on the CDC's Web site, www.cdc.gov. The message also states that persons age 18 and older must put their personal vaccination profile on the Web site.

The public is advised that these messages are false because the CDC has not created a state vaccination program as described above. Clicking on the link provided in the message will likely allow for the installation of a computer virus on one's computer.

An example of the e-mail message is as follows:

"You have received this e-mail because of the launching of State Vaccination H1N1 Program.

"You need to create your personal H1N1 (swine flu) Vaccination Profile on the cdc.gov website. The Vaccination is not obligatory, but every person that has reached the age of 18 has to have his personal Vaccination Profile on the cdc.gov site. This profile has to be created both for the vaccinated people and the not-vaccinated ones. This profile is used for the registering system of vaccinated and not-vaccinated people. Create your Personal H1N1 Vaccination Profile using the link."

To reduce the risk of being a victim of phishing, the release advises the following: do not follow unsolicited links, do not open or respond to unsolicited e-mail messages, use caution when visiting an un-trusted Web site, and use caution when entering personal information online.