H1N1 scams on the rise
Posted : Nov 8, 2009 6:07 PM
Updated: Nov 9, 2009 6:28 AM
H1N1 is becoming enough of a problem on it's own, but now scammers are making it more of an issue.
"When people are vulnerable, that's when they're targets," says Katie Carrol, with the Better Business Bureau of Southern Colorado.
The H1N1 scare has mad many feel vulnerable, and people are taking advantage.
"Almost anyway you can communicate, they can communicate with you, with bad information," Carrol says.
That's a problem today with so many people on-line, and so many places to get information. For H1N1, authorities are trying to make the right information stand out.
"The CDC (Center for Disease Control) has it's own people on Twitter who are tweeting to dispel this misinformation," explains Carrol.
After watching Internet use for a while, Joe Morgan, with Amnet in Colorado Springs, is seeing scams move from emails to social networking.
"That's were everyone is now so the scam artists are going to go where ever the people are," Morgan says.
It doesn't take long to be steered in the wrong direction.
"You have people, on twitter for example, that will re-tweet something that they've read and they haven't verified the source. Then it ends up spreading like wildfire and it may not even be true," says Morgan.
"With social media you really want to check the source on where things are coming from," explains Morgan.
Diligence can help you stay safe, but that won't prevent future scam attempts down the road.
"We will see them again when the next crisis comes out," says Carrol.
They say information you get about H1N1 on the Internet should be free. The Better Business Bureau of Southern Colorado recommends the Center for Disease Control website.
