In times of crisis, scam artists will prey on your emotions and your wallet and the COVID-19 pandemic is no different. Cynthia Albert with the Better Business Bureau says con artists are using the phone, email and fake ads on the internet and selling all kinds of false goods.

“That they have cures, or they have something that will prevent you from getting it. And what they do is they ask quite a bit of money upfront of course and then nothing comes in the mail,” says Albert.

Albert says if you have ordered something in the mail already and something does arrive, she urges you to not use it because it could be extremely harmful to your health.

“You don’t want to act too quickly on any of these, what I call them quack medicines because basically that’s what they are,” says Albert.

Another scam Albert warns of is a phishing email that says you are receiving a government check immediately requesting your bank account information.

“Normally what happens in a situation like that with these con-artists, they plunder your whole account and they take everything that you have in there,” says Albert.

If you have been a victim of or to report fraud or scams related to COVID-19 call the National Center for Disaster Fraud at 1-866-720-5721 or email disaster@leo.gov

You can also check the Better Business Bureau’s website at www.bbb.org/scamtracker to see if the product you are seeing advertised has been deemed a scam.

(Story written by Matt Doyle/Louisiana Radio Network)

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