As coronavirus cases climb, so do frauds and scams

The call came Monday to the New Hampshire Attorney General’s office from an employee of a business in the North Country, which had been targeted by a particularly invasive scam.

A con artist had viewed the company’s website, which listed names of employees and their email addresses, then pretended to be the owner, asking each employee to make a donation to help disabled veterans in hospice and palliative care during the coronavirus.

Employees were urged to buy and send five $100 Amazon or eBay gift cards to help dying vets purchase supplies that would comfort and protect them. The wording was awkward, and grammatically incorrect – a common sign of fraud. The email was addressed to each employee personally, and included the innocent closing: “Thank you, I should have called you to ask.”

Thankfully, no one took the bait. But the scammer, likely someone offshore, had found a way to manufacture a heart-tugging appeal, using contact information publicized on a business website, said Brandon Garod, chief of the Consumer Protection and Anti-Trust bureau for the New Hampshire Attorney General's Office.

“Anytime anybody’s asking you to buy gift cards, you should be suspicious,” Garod said. Reports of scam calls, texts, or emails are regular occurrences statewide, but surging fear and sympathy for others during the coronavirus pandemic has created “a perfect storm of opportunity” for predators to defraud trusting, well-intentioned people.

“Scammers cast a wide net to get a few people to fall prey. Everyone has a heightened sense of anxiety” now, said Jeannie Tucker, assistant director of outreach and advocacy at AARP New Hampshire. Con artists call it “’getting them in the ether.’ They are leveraging the pandemic to exploit people’s fears in a heightened emotional state.”

According to agencies that track and study it, fraud explodes during and after crises that profoundly alter public health, the economy, homeland security and a collective sense of safety and wellbeing.  After 9-11, there was a surge in fraudulent requests to help victims, including first responders and their families. According to complaints made to AARP and the Federal Trade Commission, U.S. consumers have lost $5.85 million to COVID-19 scams so far this year.

According to the FTC, con artists increasingly are trying to exploit fears of supply chain interruptions and shortages due to the pandemic. They’re also preying on financial vulnerability. FTC stats say 44 percent of the 8,433 consumer complaints about fraud have been related to mortgages, lending and credit. The FTC advises consumers not to click on any texts or emails pertaining to credit rating. Robo-calls impersonating government employees and government agencies – including the CDC, the Social Security Administration and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid – are also on the rise.

The most current scam, according to the NH Attorney’s office, exploits the promise of expedited stimulus checks, sometimes referred to as “Trump dollars.”  Con artists call or email pretending to be from the U.S. Treasury Department.  The approach may include “You’ve been selected, please give us your name, address, and social security and bank account numbers so we can deposit the check,” Garod said.

The Internal Revenue Service will never ask for personal identification information. Government agencies are not sending out emails requesting personal information to receive funds or any other form of pandemic relief, according to the NH Attorney General. Checks to individuals are deposited directly according to information on tax returns.  People who are contacted should call the IRS to make sure any inquiries are legitimate.

Also trending nationwide: bogus offers of nonexistent vaccines and coronavirus home test kits; high-pressure requests to give now by credit card or gift card; phony appeals from made-up and actual charities, and old-standby frauds with a new coronavirus twist, such as “the grandparent scam,” in which older adults are asked to fork over money immediately to pay for coronavirus testing or medical treatment for a grandchild who has run out of money because of layoffs, according to state and national experts.

The Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers against products containing chlorine dioxide, a powerful bleaching agent when mixed as directed with lemon juice or hydrochloric acid. They can cause respiratory and liver failure and other life-threatening conditions. Children are particularly at risk. These products, such as "Miracle Mineral Solution," are being marketed to prevent or treat coronavirus, and usually contain 28 percent sodium chlorite in water, according to the FDA.

“This is something the whole country is going through together.  What we’re seeing in New Hampshire is underreported. I don’t think there’s been a time when people are more vulnerable,” Garod said.

Local police say they have not yet seen a bump in scams, or those tied to the coronavirus.

“We receive several calls a week for scams all year long, but no real changes yet,” and nothing specific to COVID-19, said Sanbornton Police Lt. Kevin McIntosh.

Since March 15, the only scam reported in Meredith involved the purchaser of a piano on Craigslist, offering a check for $500 above the asking price in return for $500 in gift cards.

The lack of reported COVID scams locally does not predict the emerging danger, and scams occurring elsewhere could morph and migrate to the Granite State, authorities say.

“When there’s a tragedy (scammers) see an opportunity,” even though the city has not yet witnessed an increase, Laconia Police Chief Matt Canfield said. “They prey on our willingness and desire to help. People are super-trusting because it’s who they want to be.”

Reports are coming from other parts of the country that scammers are making robo-calls to offer air duct replacement to keep coronavirus from entering your home – an outright falsehood, Tucker said.

Another fraud motif: Phony salespeople going door-to-door offering coronavirus testing, which quickly turns into an attempt to steal health insurance and Medicaid ID numbers and supporting personal information, which Tucker said is occurring in other parts of the country.  The endgame is to submit false insurance claims. “Never provide health insurance or Medicaid information to anyone but a health care provider.  Even if we’re not hearing about scams in our own backyard, it’s definitely happening.”

New Hampshire law enforcement authorities predict an uptick in the number and type of attempts to defraud the longer that shutdowns, sheltering-in-place and precautions against COVID-19 transmission continue. 

So far, the Belknap County Sherriff’s office has not received any reports of coronavirus scams. “I suspect within the next three or four weeks, when (stimulus package and unemployment checks) start coming in, that’s when people will start to see them,” Sheriff Michael Moyer said.

“If it appears to be too good to be true, it probably is,” cautions Canfield. Older people, who feel socially isolated, especially during the pandemic, are particularly vulnerable to calls and contact from strangers, Canfield said, because they belong to a generation raised to trust and think the best of people.

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Roberta Baker’s reporting is underwritten by grants from the Endowment for Health, New Hampshire’s largest health foundation, and the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation. She can be reached by email at Roberta@laconiadailysun.com