hi your state health department and state health departments across the country. They're hiring thousands of contact tracers to track the people who've been infected by Corona virus. Then they get in touch with everyone who's come in contact with that person to warn them. But now scammers air swooping in posing as government tracers to get your personal and financial information. So how can you tell the difference between what's legit and what's a scam? We've set up an experiment and wait until you see who fell for it. With Covic cases spiking, contact tracers Maybe more important than ever, and the scammers know it. The Federal Trade Commission putting out an official warning to beware of fake tracers. Who can get you to expose your personal information? I know what's going on. You're sitting at home right now saying to yourself, I would never fall for that. I would never give out my personal information to some stranger on the phone unsolicited, but you'd be surprised how many smart people fall for this. So here's what we're doing to show it to you. This is my producer, Kelly. Hey, Kelly. All right, so you've supplied me a list of your family and friends and their contact him. Don't be mad. They're gonna be mad. But it's for a good cause to see. And I'm gonna poses a contact tracer just like the scammers dio to see if they fall for it. Let's get going for our experiment. I'm using the same script. The rial contact tracers Use straight from the CDC website. Let's start with Kelly's friend Kevin. I'm a contact tracer with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. This call is private and intended to assist you with this matter. It has come to our attention that you may have been recently exposed to Kobe. 19. Has anyone already talked to regarding your possible Kobe exposure? Can I confirm your full name and date of birth, please? Yeah. Kevin Nichols White. Okay, we have something different on file. Let me try your social Security number. Can I have that? I don't feel comfortable giving myself again. Okay. Kevin didn't fall for in fact, a few of Kelly's friends smell trouble. Hey, what is your date of birth? Hung up on me. Should not be calling people saying these things criminal by. But many of her friends did fall into the trap. Doug gave us everything. Can you give me your social? Can I also just get your address? It's then there's Chris. He didn't even hesitate. Can you give me your social? Okay. Cyber security expert Jim Stickley says the scammers are using fake emails to So he did what the scammers do. Drafting up a contact tracing email, making it look official. Look at the centre N D T Health Services. Ah, company. We made up. Check it out. It looks legit. But once you click on the link for more information, now where is installed? The criminal is inside your computer. We send it to Kelly's friends, Mike. And yes, what? Within just a few minutes might clicked on it, were able to see when he clicked connected to our site. And I mean, the minute he connected, Have we been a bad guy? We could start attacking his computer, put Mao on his computer and ultimately taken over everything that he was doing on that. I asked him to send it to my wife, Danielle, to just curious. Danielle did click. She clicked it very quickly. Actually, within just a couple minutes of receiving it. She clicked on the link. Well, that's disappointing to hear. I mean, she's my wife. She's been with me for all these years, as I do these stories about these phishing scams. Yeah, it's not a matter like like that smart people fall for these scams, even people that are aware that things like this happened because it looks so riel. And oftentimes it's because, like something this is scary, you're gonna notice telling you that you could have cove it immediately. People freak out when they want to click a link to find out what's going on. Big thanks to Kelly's friends, who were such good sports and even thanked us for the heads up. I have not gotten reaction yet from my wife, Danielle, but I'm sure will be an interesting evening for sure. I'll let you know. Here's the thing. A state contact tracer might reach out to you, and you should not hesitate to talk to them. But you want to know if it's a real organization or not. So here are the red flags you should watch out for with phone calls. They will only ask for your name and date of birth. They will not ever ask you for your Social Security number or any financial information, so don't give it out, no matter what. With emails. Same old story. Don't click on the link Danielle from an unsolicited email. But the thing is, do your own research. Find out more about the person or the organization calling. Dont hang up and actually look up the number yourself. Call that number to make sure it's legit. Hope it helps back to you.