UPDATE: Jan. 4, 7:05 p.m.
Officials were still investigating free COVID-19 test sites that popped up in Center City Philadelphia, last week. The regional office of the Federal Emergency Management Agency has referred the case to the Department of Justice.
A federal official says the sites may have been legitimate, but they used logos from FEMA and the Department of Health and Human Services on their hand-outs, even though neither agency was associated with the sites.
One person who used the site said he received a confirmation text after getting tested from a Chicago firm called Lab Elite. The lab has not responded to multiple calls and emails seeking comment.
Original story follows
PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia officials are warning residents not to go to pop-up tents for COVID-19 testing unless they can verify the site’s affiliation. The health department believes scammers are taking advantage of the demand for tests.
Last week, the Philadelphia Department of Public Health started getting calls asking for more information about “free” testing sites in Center City. When the city investigated, spokesperson Jim Garrow said officials found something disturbing.
“The sites said they were funded by FEMA. We actually reached out to Region 3 here of FEMA and they said they had no connection with these groups,” said Garrow. “We don’t know where they came from. We don’t know what organization they’re affiliated with.”
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Garrow said investigators were unable to find the sites, so they’re not sure who was behind them. The fear is that they were part of a phishing scheme to get people’s personal information.
This was a problem that emerged in several places early in the pandemic, when testing was hard to come by. Garrow said when testing became difficult again, it opened the door to potential scams.
“If you just see a tent set up there with a table, and somebody hand-drew a sign that says ‘free testing,’ probably not legitimate,” he advised.
Garrow recommends people use the city’s online testing finder at phila.gov/testing.
The Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General also asks residents to report any suspicious sites to scams@attorneygeneral.gov.
Meanwhile, new cases of COVID-19 continue to surge in Philadelphia. The health department said new cases are averaging more than 2,600 a day. Nearly 1,000 people are hospitalized, including 66 on ventilators.