The photo above was taken in November 2021 and is of a legitimate testing site in NYC.
The most difficult times usually bring out the best in people but there always seems to be a small percentage of people who try to capitalize on the vulnerable. Right now, thanks to the shortage of COVID testing and tests, there are people taking advantage of the desperate.
Recently, our nanny, who hasn’t been working with us during the Omicron surge, contacted my wife to let us know that she thinks she has COVID and worse, that might have gotten scammed at a fake testing site. At first, I thought she was mistaken. I mean, how could there be scam testing sites? Then, while watching the morning news today, they had a story about how L.A. County wants to crack down on fake pop-up COVID testing sites.
According to KTLA: “Residents have been raising concerns about fake COVID-19 testing sites appearing as pop-up tents in different vacant areas, including in parking lots, L.A. County officials said. People think that they’re going to a legitimate testing site and provide their personal information, then never get the result back.”
Sadly, it’s not just happening in California either. Per NBC News: “Pop-up testing sites have cropped up on street corners, in parking lots and on shopping properties across the country, but health and legal experts say many of these are unregulated and could be rife for nefarious activities like identity theft. In the last few weeks, legislators and attorneys general in several states including Illinois, Maryland, California, Texas and Pennsylvania have said they will be investigating and introducing regulatory legislation overseeing these operations. Numerous illegal, unapproved and unsanitary sites have been cautioned by state officials nationwide.”
I asked one of my good friends who works for the fire department that does a lot of Covid testing how this could happen and he said that there are no Federal regulations, so it was bound to happen. But, he says, there are links out there that show legitimate test sites.
That’s the best advice when looking for testing sites or tests. Whichever city you are in, look at their official website by Googling NAME OF CITY + official Covid testing sites. Avoid the ones at the top with the word “Ad” in front.
Here are some examples of trusted sources of information:
L.A. County: covid19.lacounty.gov/testing/
NYC: nyc.gov/site/coronavirus/get-tested/covid-19-testing.page
Chicago: Chicago.gov/city/en/sites/covid-19/home/covid-testing.html
Florida: Floridahealthcovid19.gov/testing-sites/