New Phone Scam Has Callers Posing as COVID-19 Contact Tracers

A new phone scam in the U.S. is taking advantage of the coronavirus pandemic to access credit card and bank account information from victims. The frightening grift involves callers who pose as COVID-19 contact tracers, telling victims they are calling from a local health department to alert them that they have been in contact with a person who has the coronavirus.

Callers then ask for payment and financial information, something public health officials warn a legitimate contact tracer would never do.

“That is absolutely not part of the process,” Crystal Watson, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, told The Philadelphia Inquirer. “No one should give bank information or credit card information.”

Legitimate contact tracing is being employed in regions throughout the world, and has been credited with helping countries like New Zealand and Taiwan contain the coronavirus. The process involves a tracer from a local health department contacting patients who test positive for the virus, as well as people the patient came into contact with to alert them of possible exposure to COVID-19. Those exposed are urged to quarantine to avoid further spread of the virus.

The FTC (News - Alert), Department of Health and Human Services, Better Business Bureau and state and local health officials have all issued warnings about contact tracing scams not affiliated with real health departments. The scams generally involve phone calls, texts and emails designed to glean personal information including financial data from unsuspecting people.

Watson said a legitimate contact tracing call would seek to confirm the address and birth date of a person, but would never ask for financial information. The caller would also offer help to people who need to quarantine by providing resources like food and medicine delivery or in some instances, a separate space in which to safely quarantine.

The FTC has warned people not to click on links contained in messages from so-called contact tracers, and to never give away social security numbers. The agency also said legitimate contact tracers in most regions do not ask for immigration or financial status. They also warned that the names of COVID patients are never disclosed by legitimate contact tracers.

“Scammers prefer to prey on individuals who may be more trusting, are alone, or may respond out of confusion or fear,” said Robert Torres, Pennsylvania Secretary of Aging. “It’s important that they stay alert about any contact from anyone identifying themselves as a contact tracer and do not provide personal information until they are sure the individual and information are legitimate


Edited by Maurice Nagle