Whatsapp health insurance scams are targeting undocumented people in Boulder County, officials with the county’s Department of Housing and Human Services warned in a recent public service announcement.
Scammers are using the social media platform to message people with health insurance offers from OmniSalud and other providers, said Sebastian Sifuentes, Boulder County health coverage guide.
“If a message you have received about health coverage or another benefit or service is not from someone you know and trust, do not open or respond to it or click on the link in the message,” Sifuentes said in a news release.
“Boulder County does not use WhatsApp to communicate directly about our programs or services. While some community members can and sometimes do share information with each other through WhatsApp about supports we provide, and this can be very helpful for spreading the word about the programs, it’s important for anyone receiving messages through the platform to be careful and only open them if they know who is sending them,” he said.
The county has conducted recent outreach to promote the OmniSalud program, which provides low-cost health insurance options for those who are undocumented. While the county uses Facebook and Twitter to share information about OmniSalud and other services, people should “use the same level of caution related to information they receive through these channels as well,” Sifuentes said.
Social media scams tend to increase around and during the holidays, said Boulder County Cyber Security Manager Ben Edelen.
“Scammers are always finding new ways to try to steal personal information and hard-earned money,” Edelen said in the release. “Boulder County is committed to preventing scams from harming our community. We encourage everyone to slow down and take extra care when using communication tools like social media, to report scams to the authorities so they can be stopped before they harm our neighbors, and to ask for the opinion of a second person when reviewing anything that might turn out to be a scam.”
Anyone who receives a suspicious message through a social platform is asked to report it to the Boulder County Community Protection Division at 303-441-3700 or by emailing [email protected]. Scams can also be reported anonymously by completing an insurance fraud complaint form with the Colorado Attorney General’s Office.
Officials have notified the Boulder County District Attorney’s Office and the Colorado Attorney General’s office of the scams.
