A WARNING has been issued by Worcester police after a 92-year-old was injected with a fake Covid-19 vaccine elsewhere in the UK, tricked into paying for the jab by a conman.

Police are hunting for a man who injected the woman with a fake coronavirus vaccine and charged her £160, later returning to ask for more money.

Detectives have warned that the suspected conman "may endanger people's lives" unless he is caught. West Mercia Police has issued its own warning to the public to beware of similar scams in Worcestershire, reminding people that the vaccine is always free and that contact will be made with patients via certain legitimate channels such as through a GP or pharmacy.

The victim allowed him into her home in Surbiton, southwest London, on December 30 after he said he was from the NHS.

A spokesperson for West Mercia Police said today: "In the UK, coronavirus vaccines will only be available via the @NHSuk

"You can be contacted by the NHS, your employer, a GP surgery or pharmacy local to you, to receive your vaccine. Remember, the vaccine is free of charge. At no point will you be asked to pay."

Meanwhile, the City of London Police’s Intellectual Property Crime Unit are asking for the public’s help in identifying a man suspected of fraudulently demanding payment to administer fake Covid-19 vaccines.

Officers released images of a man they wish to identify. The victim allowed the man inside her home and was jabbed in the arm with what she described as a ‘dart like implement’.

The man then asked for £160, which the victim paid as he said it would be reimbursed by the NHS, before leaving the premises. On Monday, January 4, the same man attended the victim’s address again, and asked for a further £100.

It is not yet known what substance, if any, was administered to the victim, but she was checked over at her local hospital and has suffered no ill effects following this encounter.

Anyone with information about the identity of this man, or CCTV or Dashcam footage from the area at the time of the incident, should call 101, quoting reference 3042 and the date 07 Jan 2021. Alternatively, you can contact the independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, via their website or by calling 0800 555 111, quoting the same reference.