Contact tracing is key to monitoring and preventing the spread
of COVID-19. One of the mechanisms in place is contact tracing by phone.
Scoundrels are taking advantage of the pandemic to ask people personal
questions beyond the scope of a valid investigation, reports The Epoch Times.
Government agencies across the country have issued consumer
alerts to warn of callers informing their targets that they have come into
contact with someone who tested positive for COVID and then asking for a credit
card or bank account number before divulging details. Officials say no
legitimate contact tracer would ever request payment.
Most genuine tracers are calling from health departments to
warn of possible contact with COVID, to help people be aware of symptoms, to figure
out how to isolate themselves during quarantine, and to determine who else they
might have come into contact with.
Contact tracing is a tool that has been effective in slowing
the spread of contagion while scientists work on finding drugs or vaccines that
work against COVID. Some states are actively making use of the method, which
has apparently helped contain the pandemic in New Zealand and Taiwan.
Read more: Contact tracer tells all
A valid contact tracing process often begins with a text
message from a health department. Next comes a phone call asking you to verify
your address and birthdate. Health security scholar Crystal Watson of Johns
Hopkins says this information is important to prevent accidental disclosure of
confidential information to the wrong person. If you've tested positive and
need to quarantine, the tracer can help you get connected to resources such as
delivery of food or medication. They will offer to follow up in the next few
days.
Don't respond if you receive any of the following:
- A text that asks you to
click on a link. You could end up downloading malicious software. A valid
text will simply notify you about an upcoming phone call.
- A request for a social
security number or payment information.
- The name of someone who
tested positive. Tracers do not disclose such private information.
What to do if you suspect the call is a scam:
Ask for their name and number and say you'll call them back.
Look up the phone number of your local health department. Call for confirmation
that you are being contacted because of a possible contact with someone who has
tested positive for COVID-19.
Contact tracing is not a new technique. It has been used
during measles breakouts to prevent its spread. The eradication of smallpox,
for example, was achieved not by universal immunization, but by exhaustive
contact tracing to find all infected persons. This was followed by isolation of
infected individuals and immunization of the surrounding community and contacts
at-risk of contracting smallpox.
So, if someone contacts you it is important that you verify
the contact and also do the follow up. Because you may have been in contact
with someone who tested positive for COVID-19 and not know it.
If the health department can't confirm the validity of the
call, don't call back. Instead, report the incident to an agency such as the
state attorney general's office.
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