When taking a vaccine selfie, avoid giving scammers a hand

The liberating, euphoric feeling of receiving your COVID-19 vaccine might be as thrilling as getting, say, that first driver's license.

It's one of those milestones that many want to share this small victory on social media.

But taking a selfie of you holding your vaccination card is a real no-no, according to consumer watchdogs.

While some of these scam warnings have been out for a while, I'm still seeing friends posting photos of their vaccine cards on Facebook.

Don't get me wrong, I am thrilled when a friend, a relative or someone's mom or dad is able to schedule and receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Just maybe post a shot of your arm or the sticker you got after receiving the vaccine.

You never want to give a leg up to a scammer. Fortunately, the vaccine card issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention doesn't contain any information as troubling as your Social Security number.

From what I've seen online, though, I now know the exact birth date and year for some of my friends, the type of vaccine that they received, their full name, and sometimes, depending on how they hold that card, exactly where they received the shots.

"While it may not seem like a lot of information, all a sophisticated scammer needs is a little bit of information about you, they then do their own research to fill in the blanks," said Laura Blankenship, director of marketing for the Better Business Bureau Serving Eastern Michigan & the Upper Peninsula.

Crooks could use this information, perhaps along with other readily available information, to open a credit card or take out a loan, hack into your personal accounts or maybe even file a phony income tax return to trigger a generous refund.

In general, Blankenship noted, a variety of personal documents should never be shared on social media, including a paycheck, birth certificate, medical records, a driver's license and yes, a vaccine card.

The Better Business Bureau is urging consumers to avoid posting photos of their COVID-19 vaccine cards on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

People shouldn't panic if they have already posted such photos. It is possible to take down or delete a photo. And again, some of this information is already out there.