HYANNIS – The Consumer Assistance Council of Cape Cod and the Islands is letting residents know about a scam that was reported by the Better Business Bureau.
The past few days, the organization has received a number of reports of phony text messages claiming to be from a government agency.
The texts usually impersonate the US Department of Health and Human Services or other government program and tell residents that they must take a “mandatory online COVID-19 test,” then provide a link to a website.
The BBB has also received reports of texts urging recipients to complete “the census” or an online application for a stimulus check, both of which are scams.
The BBB urges residents that no matter what the message says, do not click any links.
The texts are looking for personal information, and can also download malware to your device which can lead to identity theft.
The BBB has several tips to help identify a possible scam.
First, government agencies do not typically communicate through text messages, so most messages from any agency are already likely fake.
Ignore instructions to text “STOP” or “NO” to avoid future texts, as this is a way scammers confirm that your phone number is a real, active number.
If you think that the message is real, make sure that the web address that the message is directing you to is like “agency.gov” or “agency.ca”, and not “agency.otherwebsite.com”.
Double check and do your own research to see if the government agency or organization contacting you actually exists, and if so, contact them on your own and call them to ensure that the person you have heard from via text messages is actually a legitimate representative.
For more consumer tips regarding COVID-19, head to BBB.org/Coronavirus.
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