David Snyder was sitting at his desk at New Directions Housing Corporation in Louisville, Kentucky, when a series of texts from New Directions staff flashed across his phone. As he read through, the chief development officer discovered that a COVID-19 testing site had just been set up across the street from the housing corporation.
The pop-up site was odd, he says, because the Kentucky governor had only recently announced the first drive-through testing site at a local hospital. That site had not yet gone live. Snyder followed up and called their Metro Council members, who confronted the "professionals" at the testing site – and contacted local law enforcement.
New Directions, meanwhile, tried to make residents aware that the pop-up site, offering a "check-up" for $40 and testing for another $200, was a suspected scam, aimed at getting credit card numbers and money. But even as that site closed, Snyder says, "they opened in other places around town."
The scams that accompany coronavirus aren’t included in most doctors' descriptions. But they're spreading rapidly. According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), since the pandemic spread to the United States, they had received more than 5,700 coronavirus-related complaints by March 27. By April 6, the number had increased to 12,634. More than 7,000 of those complaints had been fraud related.
Some of the complaints included reports about unproven treatments or fake cures. There have been undelivered goods, fake charity scams, phishing emails and texts to try to trick consumers into providing personal information such as account numbers, Social Security numbers, logins and passwords, an FTC spokesman told NeighborWorks America. Scammers can then use the information to steal money – and identities.
Kimberly Hollard, director of resource development and external affairs at Providence Community Housing in New Orleans, shared that her organization has been alerted to potential scams over the past two weeks related to tax returns and COVID-19 stimulus funds. "We have alerted residents of the potential of scams through our asset management and residents services teams," she says.
NeighborWorks America's homeownership program managers and educators are expecting an increase scams related to mortgages and credit as people lose jobs and as bills mount. Scam activity was pervasive during the financial crisis in 2008.
Scammers set up and move quickly. Snyder says that even as the pop-up offices shut down in Louisville, people who promised "fast coronavirus testing" had started going door to door. If you suspect a scam, contact the FTC and your state's attorney general's office to report it.
The FTC and NeighborWorks offer these tips for avoiding scams, including:
- Fact-checking information to make sure both the information and the source providing the information are legitimate;
- Not believing organizations that tell you to avoid your lender;
- Contacting your lender directly iIf you’re in financial difficulty, contact your lender directly by using the number on the lender’s website or the back of a mortgage statement. Ask for the loss mitigation department to see what options are available;
- Reading documents before signing them;
- Doing your homework before giving money to a particular cause; and
- Not responding to solicitations that come through texts or emails.
- The FTC has a coronavirus resource page.
- NeighborWorks has valuable information on avoiding scams related to mortgages or lending.
- National Industry Standards for Homeownership Education and Counseling also has resources to help.
