COLUMBUS, Ohio — President and CEO of the Central Ohio Better Business Bureau (BBB) Kip Morse said he's seen scams like fake listings for masks, fake government grants and fake COVID-19 tests. 

But there are three different COVID scams the BBB is focused on. The first are clinical trial scams.

 

What You Need To Know

  • As COVID-19 vaccine distribution begins, the BBB is warning Ohioans of another rollout of scams

  • The BBB said there are scams from fake listings for masks, fake government grants and fake COVID-19 tests

  • Most COVID-19-related scams come by text, email or social media


“They're gonna try and get you to click on links, and they're going to be coming by text, email or social media. And obviously, they want you to be in a bit of a panic mode. It's either going to be an opportunity for to do some sort of trial, and they're going to pay you money,” said Morse.

The BBB suggests looking up any suspicious URL at lookup.icann.org and to find out if trials are for real.

The second scam they're monitoring is mandatory COVID-19 testing with a text message that looks official, like it's from the government and contains a link. Those should be deleted immediately. 

“So, they're driving you to try and showcase legitimacy through the individuals that you speak to and as you get further along, you're providing more information that you shouldn't be providing,” said Morse.

And finally, look out for COVID-19 contact tracing scams.

 

Contact tracers will always identity themselves and ask you to confirm your identity and not for financial information.

And like previously mentioned, don't fall for scams received via text, email or social media messenger as well as website links.

“You have a problem if you click on the links because there's going to be an attempt to get malware onto your computer. And then, if there's also an opportunity for you to call and contact an individual to talk about it, they're going to try and then get financial information from you,” said Morse.

The FTC said consumers have lost an estimated $1 billion in scams since the start of 2020. 

But Morse said more people are willing talk about their experience with the BBB. In most cases, they say says losses are between $50 and $100. 
He recommends victims document your experience on the BBB's Scam Tracker—the benefit is two-fold.

“We can alert you and get the assistance that you're providing, so law enforcement gets all that data, they can see what's taking place and they can see instances where they need to jump in and take action,” said Morse.

To report a COVID-19 scam go to: https://www.bbb.org/scamtracker.