Email about Covad study

[Broseley]

I received this email. I have Googled Covad study and there does seem to be such a thing, but I'm reluctant to click on the link till I know its a genuine email.

What do people think?

[HeronNS]

When in doubt, don't click on it. Does the originating e-mail look authentic? Look up the source of the e-mail.

(Also, Covid is spelled with an I not an A)

[Jigsawlass in reply to HeronNS]

COVAD stands for Covid vaccination and auto immune disease

[Broseley in reply to HeronNS]

Thanks, if it's genuine they should know by now that people wont trust it, and give us more information!

[Jigsawlass]

I had the same email, seems genuine so I've completed it

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer]

Unless you have already agreed under another study - like Zoe, CSS Biobank or CovidenceUK, I would want to know who Covadstudy are before I linked …..

[Broseley in reply to DorsetLady]

This is what i found about it:

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to Broseley]

okay, well maybe your personal circumstances triggered the email, but it would have been useful and maybe less confusing if that was outlined in the introductory email.

I would have thought in the light of so much spam surrounding Covid, those conducting study would be better at explaining why they wanted you to complete…that all.

[Broseley in reply to DorsetLady]

My reply to you didn't post. I said that there may be a legitimate study, but there are people out there who copy these emails for phishing purposes. They should provide a way of finding out if they are genuine. May be I'll try to contact them.

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to Broseley]

If I doubt, yes…..

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Broseley]

ncsc.gov.uk/collection/phis...

One too many reports is better than one too few

[piglette]

There is this research called COV-AD which is about immuno-deficiency:

immunodeficiencyuk.org/what...

[HeronNS in reply to piglette]

Interesting. That name is a way to confuse people though!

[piglette in reply to HeronNS]

I totally agree.

[HeronNS in reply to piglette]

One thing I always look for in potential spam/scam is misspellings, hence my suspicion here, but it does look like a real thing.

[piglette in reply to HeronNS]

Most scams are looking for money in one way or another and I cannot see they would gain much from this email.

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to piglette]

Agree, but if it is legit then could be better worded with an intro as to why the reciver has been selected.. just seems a bit slapdash.

[piglette in reply to DorsetLady]

I have noticed that is true of a lot of things nowadays. Prices left off, you can’t find how to contact people …….

[Broseley in reply to piglette]

I agree. I'll let you all know if I get anything back.

[kalgoorlie]

I received the email too. They obviously got my email address from this site, as that is the one I use for healthunlocked/PCRGCA. The email (correctly) said that I had received it as I had reported a possible link between the covid vaccine and an autoimmune disease. The sender is a Dr. Latika Gupta. This could either be genuine or a group looking to discredit the vaccine.

[Hidden in reply to kalgoorlie]

I’ve googled that Dr and she ‘appears’ to be a rheumatologist at Wolverhampton hospital but Google is not a source or reliable info either.

[Jigsawlass in reply to Hidden]

She is on LinkedIn, so I would say she is reputable

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Jigsawlass]

Not sure I'd take being on LinkedIn as a mark of reputation!! The Lancet might be a better bio:

thelancet.com/journals/lanr...

[Hidden in reply to PMRpro]

ha ha that made me laugh, yes linked in is simply a marketing tool IMHO

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Hidden]

Self-aggrandisment too

[Jigsawlass in reply to Hidden]

Tbf LinkedIn is a standard way of making connections across the jobs market and also used by recruiters, a very useful tool

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to kalgoorlie]

Did you or your doctor submit a yellow card report for adverse effects to a vaccine? They can't (shouldn't) have obtained your email address from HU as that comes under data protection. However - we have mentioned a couple of studies that are patient reported and they also included the option to participate in other research if desired.

This is an article in the Lancet about the various studies, including COVAD

thelancet.com/pdfs/journals...

[Broseley in reply to PMRpro]

Hi PMRPro I have never filled in a yellow card. I had no reaction to any of my covid vaccinations and I have never had covid either!

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Broseley]

I can't see your screenshot in detail - but the claim the link is individual to you seems strange since that means the responses are not fully anonymised which, without your signed agreement, is not in line with any study I've come across.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Broseley]

Here are the instructions for scam reporting

ncsc.gov.uk/collection/phis...

[Bcol]

It certainly looks, at first sight, to be genuine but I'm surprised that if they obtained your email address from this site/forum then why haven't the rest of us also had the same email as I would have thought that pretty much everyone on this site would be relevant for their study.

[Suziib]

I am on a genuine Vovid study group run by the ONS but the initial contact was via the post, I have been on this study for 2 years. I definitely would want to find out more before supplying more information about myself.

[Hidden]

personally I feel if it’s a genuine contact intended directly for YOU they would also have another way of getting in touch with you directly to avoid any risk of damage to their quest by people thinking it’s spam.

[Hidden]

also see my reply to kalgoorli with these responses

[LBM1953]

I started competing the survey last night but got locked out because I tried to navigate back and it won't allow it. HOWEVER I did the survey just now and it is a completely different set of questions to the ones I started (but did not complete) yesterday. Todays were much simpler. Odd.....

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to LBM1953]

ncsc.gov.uk/collection/phis...

One repot too many is better than one too few

[rudyard21]

Well , they can't spell Covid so I would definitely say Scam!

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to rudyard21]

The STUDY is called COVAD - that bit is genuine. Whether this email is genuine is another matter

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/358...

[Sanekate]

Any approved research from a genuinne centre must have a desriptor and outline of what connsent entails, even if its an undergraduate project. Thats a generic email account too. Might be genuine interest but I'd like to know more about the project

[AyJayBass]

It is genuine. I was invited to take part in the COVAD study last year by the Dept of Immunology at the Royal Free Hospital (London) who have been treating me for an immune deficiency for the past six years. I had previously reported to them that my PMR appeared following my first dose of Covid vaccine. I received the email and I have completed in the survey today.

[Broseley]

Thanks. I have messaged the study and await their reply.

[bussell]

How naive am I! It did not occur to me that this might be a scam and I have duly filled it in.

I did develop PMR after the first vaccination and reported it to the yellow card system.

To be fair, I don't quite see what would be in it for a scammer.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to bussell]

You don't know what is at the end of the link

[bussell in reply to PMRpro]

true

[Broseley]

I have had no luck finding a source for this email. Yes there is a published study called COVAD but that doesn't mean the email is genuine. The fact that it does not address me by name and gives no introduction or information leads me to think it is a phishing scam so I have reported it. In doing this it was deleted from my inbox.