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An alert was issued by the DOH after the Fairfield Health Department in Fairfield County advised that they had received a dozen calls from Connecticut residents in the past two weeks who were instructed to call a number regarding potential COVID-19 exposure.
Officials said that none of the people contacted had been in Fairfield, and none were in the DPH ContaCT system, which tracks those who may have been exposed to the virus.
Each of the residents reported that they received a live call from 800-319-7802 telling them that they had been exposed and to call the main number for the Fairfield Health Department to complete their contact tracing.
No personal information was requested, according to the 12 Connecticut residents who reported the calls.
The phone number does not accept incoming calls and an Internet search found that this number has been associated with similar notifications and scams in the past.
“DPH has verified that these messages did not originate in its systems and the sources of these calls cannot be traced,” officials said. “The DPH team is contacting other local health department contact tracing leads to see if they have received similar calls.
According to officials, contact tracers from the local and state health department will be in touch with one if they test positive for COVID-19 or were exposed to someone with COVID-19.
When they call “CT COVID TRACE” or the number for an area health department will show up on the caller ID.
The Department of Health noted that contact tracers will never:
- Identify you as the source of information with others in your community;
- Share your personal or medical information, without your permission, to anyone outside of the contact tracing work;
- Give your name or contact information to employers or immigration officials;
- Ask for your social security number or immigration status;
- Ask for credit card information, bank information, or demand any type of payment.
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