A common SMS phishing scam that is becoming more popular in recent times is, the Covid–19 test result / track and trace scam. Scammers have been keeping up with global developments and in this case have started to roll out phishing text messages that are claiming to be from testing centres or track and trace establishments.

These text message scams will state a variety of different issues related to Covid–19, whether it be a message from someone pretending to be your local GP to say that your Covid–19 test results are back and to click a link to view them; or a message from someone impersonating the NHS, claiming that someone you have been in contact with has contracted the virus and to follow a link which tells you what steps to take next.

These, along with many more, are all examples of phishing scams. If you have taken a Covid–19 test, and your results come back negative, you will receive a text message saying that the result came back negative and no more needs to be done. However, if you did take a Covid–19 test and the test results came back positive you would be notified either by phone call or text message saying so, but not via a link within the message.

Another text message scam related to the Covid–19 outbreak is, to have received a text message saying that you have been made eligible to apply for a vaccine, with a link for you to follow apparently taking you to a web form where you enter all your details. This is a scam message, and this can be checked by holding down on the link on your phone until a small pop-up window appears for the link. If the pop-up window’s web address (URL) is different to what the link was in the actual message, you can be sure that this is a phishing scam and not from a legitimate source.

For more information you download a PDF file from the National Cyber Security Centre titled COVID-19: SMS / Text message

Article by Jack Kiddy