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NHS TRACK AND TRACE FRAUD ALERT

If you or someone you know is vulnerable and has been a victim of fraud, please call Essex Police on 101.

Report fraud or attempted fraud by contacting Action Fraud at www.actionfraud.police.uk or call 0300 123 2040.

NHS TRACK AND TRACE
With the development of Track and Trace, many people have been asking for advice around how this works.

Please find below the official advice from the GOV.UK website on how the system works and advice on how to avoid being the victim of any possible scams as a result of the implementation of this system.

When we contact you
If the NHS test and trace service contacts you, the service will use text messages, email or phone.

All texts or emails will ask you to sign into the NHS test and trace contact-tracing website.

If NHS test and trace calls you by phone, the service will be using a single phone number: 0300 013 5000.

All information you provide to the NHS test and trace service is held in strict confidence and will only be kept and used in line with the Data Protection Act 2018.

Contact tracers will:
• call you from 0300 013 5000
• send you text messages from ‘NHS’
• ask for your full name and date of birth to confirm your identity, and postcode to offer support while self-isolating
• ask if you are experiencing any coronavirus symptoms
• provide advice on what you must do as you have been in contact with someone who has tested positive for coronavirus
Contact tracers will never:
• ask you to dial a premium rate number to speak to us (for example, those starting 09 or 087)
• ask you to make any form of payment or purchase a product of any kind
• ask for any details about your bank account
• ask for your social media identities or login details, or those of your contacts
• ask you for any passwords or PINs, or ask you to set up any passwords or PINs over the phone
• disclose any of your personal or medical information to your contacts
• provide medical advice on the treatment of any potential coronavirus symptoms
• ask you to download any software to your PC or ask you to hand over control of your PC, smartphone or tablet to anyone else
• ask you to access any website that does not belong to the government or NHS
For the full guidance/information please check the GOV.UK website – https://www.gov.uk/guidance/nhs-test-and-trace-how-it-works

Remember our advice
If in doubt use the A, B, C of scam awareness:
A- Never Assume a caller, email or text is genuine.
B- Never Believe a caller, email or text is genuine.
C- Always Confirm by contacting a trusted number, family member, friend, your bank’s fraud department or the police to check if it’s genuine.

‘Tell2, protect many’ is a communication initiative that empowers you to spread crime prevention messages to others in your life, who otherwise may never know.
Start with ‘tell2’ and ask them to do the same. It starts with YOU!