Fake COVID-19 test sites are showing up in the Fresno region. How to avoid being scammed
Fresno County health officials are warning residents to avoid fake COVID-19 rapid-test vendors who have been increasingly popping up with tents and tables on sidewalks and parking lots throughout the community.
“In some cases, these pop-up sites can be unregulated, unapproved and could lead to fraudulent activities like identity theft,” according to a statement issued this week by the Fresno County Department of Public Health.
“People are mentioning that on their way to work they’re seeing new sites popping up all over town,” said Dr. Rais Vohra, interim health officer for Fresno County.
In a briefing with reporters on Wednesday, Vohra and Joe Prado, assistant director of the county health department, expressed concern about illegitimate sites operating without proper certification of their testing materials.
“Usually any type of testing clinic site out in the community, if they’re connected to a medical provider, that’s a good indication that they are a credible resource,” Prado said. Legitimate testers, he added, will display their federal certification under CLIA, or Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments, a national laboratory certification program.
If, however, a pop-up sidewalk vendor promises to deliver rapid-test results in three minutes, that’s a good indicator that the testing is less than reputable. “The (Food & Drug Administration) has approved at-home rapid tests with results from 10 minutes to 20 minutes,” Prado said. “There is really no three-minute testing out in the market at this time.”
Other indications of fraudulent test vendors include:
Asking for Social Security numbers or other non-medical information.
Using materials that don’t have a company or clinic logo.
The site is located on a sidewalk and not associated with a medical provider such as a clinic or medical practice.
The demand for testing has skyrocketed in recent weeks with the spread of the highly contagious omicron variant of coronavirus and a nationwide shortage of popular at-home rapid testing kits.
“We know it’s a real challenge to try to get yourself tested or your child tested; we totally sympathize with parents and families that are struggling to get these tests,” Vohra said Wednesday. “But we don’t want you to fall prey to unscrupulous vendors who may not be above board in terms of the tests that they’re offering or the answers that they’re giving you.”
Vohra likened the task of keeping up with the unregulated or unlicensed pop-up test vendors to the carnival game “whack-a-mole.”
“Unfortunately, if we or the authorities shut down one site that’s not certified, then that same vendor or other vendors will come up with with another business model and pop up somewhere else,” he said. “It feels like a game of whack-a-mole when we try to individually pinpoint and work with vendors.”
The health department suggests that residents seeking COVID-19 tests can avoid fakes by:
Requesting to see medical credentials that prove the vendor’s legitimacy.
Ask which type of laboratory test is being used: a rapid antigen test or more reliable PCR testing.
Ask where the test sample will be processed and if it is being sent to a lab.
Asking how the results will be reported.
Vohra and Prado added that while at-home rapid tests are in short supply, many places in Fresno County continue to have availability for PCR testing for which the turnaround time for results is two to four days.
A complete list of test resources is online on Fresno County Department of Public Health website at www.fcdph.org/covid19testing. People who don’t have internet access can also call the county’s COVID-19 information phone line at 888-559-2683.
