Online scammers undermining public trust, warns PHE

THE NHS test-and-trace programme is being undermined by hackers sending out phishing scams falsely warning the public they may have Covid-19.

Public Health England warned potential contacts to check suspicious messages against the Government website after a flurry of reports of Britons being falsely informed they may have coronavirus. Several public health directors have called for all communication from contact tracers to involve two-step verification to eradicate the risk of scammers gaining confidential information.

However, Prof Isabel Oliver, who helped design the programme to trace people at risk of infection, says the public should instead check suspicious messages against the Government’s online test-and-trace explainer.

“It is something that we have considered very carefully,” she said. “We’ve got the information online to help people assess whether the call is from us and we have put arrangements in place.

“Trust is important and we rely on the public’s trust for this to work.

“What we are trying to do is to protect them and their family and friends.”

Those contacted as part of track-and-trace will be advised to self-isolate and Labour will today urge the Government to plug gaps in statutory sick pay to help businesses with more than 250 employees claim back from HMRC should their workers be contacted.

Anneliese Dodds, the shadow chancellor, said: “Without giving businesses the extra financial support they need to make sure their employees can self-isolate, we risk pushing them into further financial distress when they are already over stretched.”

‘We rely on the public’s trust for this to work. We are trying to protect them and their family and friends’