Thought Of The Day - April 13 - Beware Covid-Scams

Hi All,

Yesterday I received an email promoting the safest masks on the market. I check the company address (2 Toronto Street, Toronto) to find it is a UPS pickup point that seems riddled with bad reviews. In short, it is one of the many scams that have emerged along with Covid-19. In the US for example I was reading that folks are setting up tents at highway pullouts and for $200 you can be one of the first to use a new drive-through tests centre – 30 minutes and $10,000 later they are gone.

Moreover, due to the significant change in usage, as of late, email services are having a harder time deciding what is legit and what is not. For example, I believe that Microsoft has lowered the level of spam screening for its email services (Hotmail, Outlook, Live etc.) after complaints of too many false positives. Note: Google has not followed suit so you may want to have a quick look in your spam folder every few weeks to see if legit emails have been set aside.

So, if you are seeing unsolicited emails or receive calls for masks, hand sanitizers, test kits, government handouts, even Covid-19 surveys, probably they are not legit. In these uncertain times, you need to stay safe in more ways than one.

Cheers

Cliff