Beware of Coronavirus Scams

It looks like scammers have already devised plans to take advantage of coronavirus.  Police departments across the country are starting to get reports of coronavirus phone scams.  People have reported receiving a phone call from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and are asking for credit card numbers and social security number in order to reserve a COVID-19 vaccine.  Just so you know, there is no vaccine reserve program, and the CDC is not offering anything of the sort.  Do not fall for it!  'App Scams' are also making the rounds.  One Android App will advertise it's ability to track the spread of COVID-19 virus near you.  The App will then encourage the user to 'enable full device control'  If you follow this step, threatening messages will start coming to your phone, starting with 'Your phone is encrypted. You have 48 hours to pay 100$ in bitcoin or everything will be erased.'  If you fail to respond, the threatening messages will continue to be sent.  You can get more information about online coronavirus scams by visiting the ABC News website.  Another scam that has started making the rounds is that a 'worker' had come to their door asking to come inside to test a few surfaces for COVID-19. The person realized this was a scam and shut the door on them.  No government agency will ever come to your house for ANY sort of COVID-19 testing.  At this time, none of these cases have been reported in the Crossroads, but vigilance key.  Stay safe my friends!