WI Department Of Health Warns Against Falling For COVID-19 Contact Tracing Scams

We live in interesting times.  And just as confusing as the precautions we're all taking to keep us safe and healthy during the COVID-19 Pandemic, comes the opportunity for scammers to take advantage of the situation.

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services is urging the general public to be on their guard in relation to potential scammers identifying themselves as COVID-19 Contact Tracers.  Contact Tracers play an important role in the fight against COVID-19 and your participation with them is suggested.  But, there are potential scammers ready to take advantage of the situation - and you!

It's true that if a county COVID-19 Contact Tracer calls you, you will be asked for some information about yourself.  But that information differs greatly from what you would be asked by a would-be scammer.  To summarize, a legitimate call from one of the county's COVID019 Contact Tracers wouldn't ask any question that isn't generally already publicly-available about you - with the exception of health and symptom questions.  According to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, here are the sort of questions you would be asked:

Your name

• Your address
• Your phone number
• Your email
• Your gender
• Your race/ethnicity
• Your symptoms

Here are some questions that the county COVID-19 Contact Tracer would never ask you:

• Credit card information
• Bank account numbers
• Social Security numbers

They would also never send you a link in a text asking you to click on it.

For more details on how to identify legitimate county COVID-19 Contact Tracers and ways that you can protect yourself from scams, click here.