ALBANY, N.Y. — The New York State Division of Consumer Protection (DCP) recently warned about scammers taking advantage of the free COVID-19 test government program to steal personal information for unscrupulous purposes. Due to the high demand, scammers may start using techniques that typically arise with a free government event such as: falsely claiming to be online providers of the tests; sending fake emails and texts that contain harmful links designed to steal your personal information; and using robocalls to pitch testing information.
“The arrival of the COVID-19 free at home tests is one more tool in the fight to end this brutal pandemic, but unfortunately, it also creates new opportunities for unscrupulous scammers to attempt to lure people into unintentionally providing their personal information,” Acting Secretary of State Robert J. Rodriguez said.
“As the free at-home test program is rolled out, New Yorkers can thwart the scammers by keeping their personal, financial and health information safe and questioning any requests for a social security number, credit card, health insurance or other personally identifiable information from anyone not affiliated with a trusted health or government entity,” Rodriguez noted.
“The availability of free COVID-19 test kits from the federal government will help millions of Americans to have multiple tests on-hand as we continue to monitor and navigate the winter surge,” New York State Health Commissioner Dr. Mary…
