Scam artists posing as contact trackers have been exploiting the COVID-19 crisis to determine the personal information of residents of the region.
Multiple reports of scammers posing as COVID-19 contact trackers have been reported since the pandemic began, prompting officials to issue an alert and provide guidance on how to avoid becoming a victim.
Authorities said the imposters claim to work on behalf of local health or law enforcement departments and are required to install contact location software on their victims’ computers.
The scammers threatened fines, asked for personal financial information, and sometimes tried to break into the homes of their victims and then steal identities or money.
Anyone who believes they may be the victim of a plan has been instructed to call the local police department.
Health officials said residents should never pay for a contact tracker, give their social security number or financial information. Residents should also not share immigration statuses, as legitimate contract trackers do not need and will not request this information.
“Tracking contacts is actually an important component of public health and an essential tool to stop the spread of COVID-19 and other communicable diseases,” officials said.
“If you agree to participate, you can choose to receive daily health assessment reminders by text message, email, or phone. You will be reminded to do a simple assessment of your symptoms each day.
“It is important to note that all information collected is kept strictly confidential. Identified contacts will not receive information about cases (such as the name of the person who may have exposed them).”
Here are other steps you can take to protect yourself from FTC text scammers:
- Protect your accounts online by using multi-factor authentication. Two or more credentials are required to log into your account, making it difficult for scammers to log in to your accounts if they get your username and password;
- Enable automatic updates for operating systems on your electronic devices. Make sure your apps are also automatically updated to get the latest security patches that can protect against malware;
- Back up the data on your devices regularly, so you don’t lose valuable information if a device receives malware or ransomware.
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