PHOENIX — It’s bad enough the pandemic has disrupted our daily lives, but the Arizona Attorney General’s Office is warning that scammers are trying to take advantage of that and it could cost you.
"We know that the con artists will take any opportunity they can to get your personal information or try to separate you from your wallet," Katie Connor with the Arizona Attorney General's Office explained.
Connor said phone scams are some of the top complaints when it comes to COVID-19. For example, they've received complaints of people posing as contact tracers or labs with bogus test results. In all cases, they ask you to provide your personal information or bank info.
"Legitimate contact tracers will not ask for money or payment and they’re not going to ask for your personal information or your bank account information," Connor explained.
If you get a call like this and it seems fishy, Connor said to hang up and call the agency or lab directly.
"I started to get envelopes from DES and they enclosed a debit card," Susan Witt said.
Witt told 12 News started collecting mail for her neighbor’s family – after he died back in January.
"And it’s basically people that filed for unemployment under his address," Witt said.
The AG’s office said they’ve gotten more than 1,000 complaints about unemployment fraud this summer - funds getting into the wrong hands, while some people with legit claims are still waiting on money from DES.
"Money can either keep people in their home or not and it’s just so sad that it’s continually happening," Connor said.
The AG’s office said the best way to shut problems like this down is for people to file complaints so they can investigate.
