COLLIER COUNTY, Fla. — Day after day, people living in Collier county are lining up to get tested for COVID-19. There’s now a handful of walk-up sites in Immokalee, too. It’s labeled a hot spot with the highest number of positive cases in Florida at 1,172.
Kristine Hollingsworth with the Collier Dept. of Health says many people are anticipating their results.
“With the increased testing there are more people waiting their results and they’re waiting for that phone call,” she said.
Scammers are taking advantage of that. Holingsworth says they’re posing as DOH workers calling to share test results, but the call is full of red flags.
“They’re asking for a full social security number for example. They’re also asking questions about medical history,” said Hollingsworth.
Questions she says the DOH would never ask over the phone.
Bryan Oglesby with the Better Business Bureau says this is just one of dozens of schemes scammers are using to steal from you.
“Their intent is to either steal your identity, by social security number. Maybe a credit card number to perpetrate credit card fraud,” he said.
Hollingsworth says DOH will verify your identity in other ways before sharing your test results.
“We will ask to verify your name, your address, and your date of birth,” she said. “If you receive a call like this, hang up and contact the Department of Health at 239-252-8200.”
You can also report it to the Collier County Sheriff’s Office and the BBB scam tracker.
Oglesby also says watch out for scammers pretending to be contact tracers. If they ask for anything other than your date of birth or address, it’s likely a scam.
