Now well into the sixth month of this pandemic response (give or take a few weeks depending on where you call home), our understanding of the virus has grown quite a bit. Wearing a mask is now considered a best practice by a large portion of the medical and scientific communities. Gathering is somewhat acceptable, so long as you do so outdoors with physical distancing. Washing your hands is no longer the be-all and end-all it was at the beginning of this crisis, although keeping your hands clean is certainly still a pretty big thing to be cognizant of.
But as our understanding of COVID-19 has evolved, so too have the scams associated with it.
In the latest entry into our “People are the Absolute Worst” anthology, we’re here to warn you of yet another potential attack on your data.
Earlier this year, we wrote about the first iteration of COVID-19 scam attempts. They centered largely on contact tracing, taking advantage of those with concerns of contracting and/or spreading this potentially deadly virus.
Legitimate contact tracing involves a human contact tracer reaching out to a person who has been confirmed to be infected with COVID-19. The infected person would then provide the contact tracer with a list of people who they came in contact with. The contact tracer then sends a text message to each of those people, followed up by a phone call to notify them of the potential exposure.
To be clear: There is no extracting of information from those potentially exposed. Contact tracers simply notify these individuals of the circumstances before providing them with some suggestions on how to proceed (e.g. quarantine, testing).
Scammers sought to take it a step further, asking for wholly unrelated information such as Social Security numbers, banking information, or credit card numbers. These scam attempts would also frequently feature a link. I think you know how we feel about links from unfamiliar phone numbers and email addresses.
Enter the next stage of COVID-19 scams: monetary penalties.
Props to scammers for covering virtually all of the bases now. Because for as big of a swing as scammers were taking by targeting people with concerns of limiting the spread of COVID-19, the past couple of months have shown us that people and governments are far less tied to the precautions that they previously held near and dear to their hearts back in April. MLB and the NBA made triumphant returns to empty venues. Heck, the NFL most recently kicked off its largely uninterrupted 2020 season with some fans in the seats of certain stadiums.
Many are, in essence, trying to make the new normal feel more like the old normal.
That’s prompted scammers to take on more of a Big Brother-esque approach to their deceptive measures. Rather than simply notify people of a potential exposure, scammers are now — as originally highlighted by the folks over at The Verge — trying to rip people off by warning them of fabricated fines that they have supposedly accrued by leaving their homes during the pandemic.
Image credit: The Verge
To be clear (again): This is not real. It can’t possibly be real. For a number of reasons. Here are some:
Remember our latest update on COVID-19 contact tracing apps? Of course you do. We wrote about it last week. In short: there aren’t very many apps out there — especially not in the United States. There’s a good chance you currently reside in a state that does not have a dedicated COVID-19 contact tracing app.
There’s a good chance you’re probably not even using the app even if it does exist in your state.
Assuming your state is utilizing Apple and Google’s contact tracing API, your phone would be relying on Bluetooth pings (not GPS) as the primary method of contact tracing. And unless the government has infiltrated the Bluetooth devices within your home, or set up Bluetooth devices in various areas you’ve visited outside of your home, there’s no way for them to know you’ve gone outside.
Ignoring all the previous and virtually impossible conditions, your state and federal government would likely have to be working together on this grand gesture of totally unethical espionage.
So, yeah, safe to say the government isn’t tracking your every move. Or maybe it is, but it certainly wouldn’t be blowing the whistle on itself for a measly $19.66 for every time you needed some fresh air. You’re worth more than that — don’t let anybody tell you otherwise, champ.
