Scammers pretend to be contact tracers who work for public health departments to steal private information, warned the Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday, May 19.
The advent of contact tracing scams poses concerns as to whether the public can trust tracers to contact when they call or email suddenly as the procedure becomes a part of the strategy to stop COVID-19.
"Engagement of the public with contact tracers must be widely accepted to protect friends, family, and community members from future potential infections," according to the CDC's contact tracing guidance.
Contact tracking is when public health departments call people who have been positively screened for an infectious disease to alert those who have been in close touch with them to be checked or isolated. Around 11,000 US touch tracers call high-risk people for Covid-19, NPR reported in April, and states have confirmed plans to recruit tens of thousands more.
"There's no question, contact tracing plays a vital role in helping to stop the spread of COVID-19," writes the FTC's, Colleen Tressler. "But scammers, pretending to be contact tracers and taking advantage of how the process works, are also sending text messages."
Although officials in the public health sector may submit an informative text message ahead of a phone call, they will not provide a connection, the FTC said. The FTC warns that the links used in scam text messages will download malware to your phone, allowing the scammers to steal personal data. It also notes that real workers of public health should not ask for details such as Social Security or bank account numbers.
Officials provide tips to avoid fraudsters
The FTC recommends filtering unwanted text messages, turning on two-factor authentication, and updating to the latest version of the phone software. But people still need to be careful to ignore and delete scam messages.
The advent of contact tracing scams may also exacerbate the Apple and Google-backed anonymous automated contact tracing technology, which the companies call "exposure notification."
Apps made with the Apple-Google program are still not commonly used in the USA or Europe. But when the application is released officially later this month, the apps will send alerts to users with messages like "Someone you were near has tested positive for COVID-19. Tap for more info."
Apple-Google's Bluetooth system requires a large percentage of people to opt-in, and businesses have said confidence is vital to the system's work.
Monica Vaca, associate director for the FTC's division of consumer response and operations, urges the general public not to click on links from sources that they don't know.
"It could download a virus onto your computer or your devices, so please be careful with that," Vaca explained. Scammers are going to go to pretty much any length to make their message look real, she added. However, there are little signals you can look out for, such as misspellings in the text or poorly imposed graphics.
Vaca emphasized that such scammers could be identified and dealt with because of these scammers' media coverage. She also urged the media to doubt the legitimacy of false statements such as miracle cures or unwanted messages promising to reward relief tests.
