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COVID-19 Scam Alerts
FDA Alerts Consumers About Unauthorized Fraudulent COVID-19 Test Kits
The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) released an announcement that warns consumers about unauthorized fraudulent coronavirus tests that are being marketed to test for COVID-19 in the home.
At this time, the FDA has not authorized any test that is available to purchase for testing at home for COVID-19. The FDA sees the public health value in expanding the availability of COVID-19 testing through safe and accurate tests that may include home collection, and is actively working with test developers to bring this to fruition.
Fraudulent health claims, tests, and products can pose serious health risks. They may keep some patients from seeking care or delay necessary medical treatment. The FDA will take appropriate action to protect consumers from bad actors who take advantage of a crisis to deceive the public by marketing tests that pose risks to patient health.
The FDA has already identified and issued warning letters to companies found selling and promoting fraudulent items, and expects additional such actions will be forthcoming. Additionally, the FDA is stepping up enforcement at ports of entry, including International Mail Facilities, to ensure these fraudulent products that originate outside the country do not enter through the nation’s borders.
If you are aware of fraudulent test kits for COVID-19, please report them to the FDA. Reports may be sent via email to: FDA-COVID-19-Fraudulent-Products@fda.hhs.gov.
The FDA will continue to pursue those who place the public health at risk. Actions may include issuing warning letters, seizures or injunctions.
City Warns of Email and Other Technology-Related Scams
During this time of a worldwide outbreak of the new Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19), you’ll receive lots of information from your city, county, school district and perhaps medical providers, companies with which you do business and others who are legitimately sharing useful updates and info.
Unfortunately, the situation is also being used by scammers to scare people into clicking on links, opening malicious attachments, or giving out confidential information.
We urge you to exercise caution and good judgement with anything related to COVID-19: emails, attachments, any social media, texts on your phone, etc.
๐๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐น๐ผ๐ผ๐ธ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ผ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ ๐น๐ถ๐ธ๐ฒ:
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฌ ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฅ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข๐ท๐ช๐ณ๐ถ๐ด ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฑ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ค๐ช๐ต๐บ
๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข๐ท๐ช๐ณ๐ถ๐ด ๐๐ฏ๐ง๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ค๐ข๐ญ ๐ด๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ญ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ช๐ค๐ต
๐๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ต๐ฉ ๐๐ณ๐จ๐ข๐ฏ๐ช๐ป๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ข๐ช๐ญ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ค๐ช๐ข๐ญ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ช๐ข ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข๐ท๐ช๐ณ๐ถ๐ด ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ข๐จ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ
๐๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ด๐ข๐ง๐ฆ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข๐ท๐ช๐ณ๐ถ๐ด
๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฎ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ข ๐ด๐ค๐ข๐ฎ ๐ฑ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ณ๐ข๐ช๐ด๐ฆ ๐ง๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ "๐ท๐ช๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ด".
Please remember: "Think Before You Click"!
Stay Vigilant about Potential Fraud
Posted March 27, 2020
Some utility customers may be the victim of phone or email scams, especially during the COVID-19 crisis. We urge you to remain vigilant and aware of the potential for people to try to get you to send them money or gift cards, or provide them with your personal information.
Common Sense Steps to Avoiding Scams
- Your San Marcos Utility Billing Center will never call you asking for personal information. If you suspect the call is not legitimate, take note of the number then terminate the call immediately.
- We do not call customers after normal business hours or on weekends.
- We are not going to do disconnects for the next 90 days. If you receive a call demanding payment or telling you they will shut off your services, please terminate the call immediately.
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Emergency Management
Phone: : 512-393-8480
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Rob A. Fitch
Emergency Management CoordinatorPhone: 512-393-8482