Use caution and be able to tell the difference between a real contact tracer and a scammer. Legitimate tracers need health information along with your name, address, and possibly names of places or people you have visited. They do not need money or your personal financial information such as your online banking credentials, account information or social security number.

*Stimulus checks from the government will be in the form of Treasury checks and will not come in the form of Cashier’s checks, business checks, or personal checks mailed to you.**Any checks you receive that claim to be stimulus and are not from the U.S. Government are suspect.*

Ignore offers for vaccinations and miracle treatments or cures. Scammers are selling products to treat or prevent COVID-19 without proof that they work.

Hang up on robocalls. Scammers are using illegal robocalls to pitch everything from low-priced health insurance to work-at-home schemes.

Do your homework when it comes to donations. Never donate in cash, by gift card, or by wiring money.

Avoid falling for scam calls posing as law enforcement or your financial institution. Increasingly, scammers will pose as law enforcement and claim evidence has been found linking you to a crime. They will then request your social security number and financial information, claiming this will prove you are innocent. In other calls they will pose as your financial institution by claiming you have fraud on your account they need to resolve. They will then proceed to ask for your online banking credentials, account information and to provide a code to them which was sent to your phone. What they are really doing is stealing your identity and accessing your bank accounts if you give them this information. The code sent to your phone is actually a security code generated by your financial institution to protect your online banking account. Never share this information with anyone. Providing this code to the scammer along with your other information is all they need to take over your financial accounts. Your financial institution will never ask for your online banking credentials, social security number or codes that are sent to your phone when calling you.