Scam Alert: Things a COVID Contact Tracer Wouldn’t Say

(By Julie Appleby for Kaiser Health News)

State officials and federal agencies warn there’s a new phone scam circulating: Some callers posing as COVID-19 contact tracers try to pry credit card or bank account information from unsuspecting victims.

The grifters apparently are taking advantage of a genuine public health intervention that’s crucial to stopping the spread of the novel coronavirus: contact tracing.

In one such scheme, detailed in a warning from the Montana attorney general, scammers tell their victims, “I’m calling from your local health department to let you know that you have been in contact with someone who has COVID-19.” Then they move in for the kill, asking for payment information “before we continue.”  Continue reading article here…

Kaiser Health News is a nonprofit national health policy news service that is part of the nonpartisan Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation

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