Oregonians fall victim to coronavirus-related scams

Better Business Bureau warns to be careful of scams during this pandemic

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ ) -- Hundreds of people have reported scams related to the coronavirus around the state, including in Central Oregon.

The Better Business Bureau on Thursday released numbers from the Federal Trade Commission stating that in Oregon, there have been 262 COVID-19-related scams reported since Jan.1. Nationwide, there has been at least $13.4 million lost to coronavirus scams.

The FTC reports that the Bend-Redmond area's top three scams are telephone and mobile service scam fraud, imposter scams like fraudulent student debt forgiveness scams and online shopping scams. Better Business Bureau Oregon State Director Danielle Kane says the  student-debt relief scams are commonly seen, and she shared how you can protect yourself.

"If you're getting any calls saying we need X,Y,Z, or we need your Social (Security number) in order to halt the payment, that should be a red flag, because they should have already done that," Kane said. "Additional red flags is anyone asking for personal identifiable information -- your banking info, your credit card info. There should not be any info needed to follow up on some of this student relief that is available."

Kane said all student loans have been paused through the CARES Act, the coronavirus relief act, so you should be wary if anyone is asking for student loan payments at this time.