Scammers are going door-to-door pretending to be from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to sell COVID-19 tests, Mother Jones reports.
This, it adds, has prompted the attorney general's office in New York and police departments in Ohio and Florida to warn residents about these scams. "We must remain vigilant against any scam designed to exploit people's anxiety, especially during a global pandemic," Letitia James, the New York attorney general, says in a statement. "New Yorkers should know that no one from the CDC, or any other health agency, is knocking on doors to provide tests for the coronavirus for a fee."
Additionally, the US Food and Drug Administration has warned consumers about fraudulent at-home COVID-19 testing kits, as 360Dx reports, noting that FDA has not authorized any at-home test kits. The agency has also, in conjunction with the Federal Trade Commission, sent warning letters to companies marketing products like essential oils to treat COVID-19.
"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 agency says in a statement.