Federal authorities urged private companies this week to be on the lookout for employees using falsified doctors notes and other medical documents claiming they tested positive for coronavirus, an old and childish trick that could cost thousands of dollars to already-struggling businesses.
In one recent incident, a worker at an unidentified “critical manufacturing company” submitted a letter that appeared to come from a medical facility and showed a positive COVID-19 test result, the FBI’s Office of Private Sector said in a report obtained by CNN.
In response, the company shutdown a manufacturing site to disinfect the facility and halted production and delivery of “necessary materials” to the plant, the agency reportedly wrote in the memo. Company officials also notified all workers at the facility, including four people who had to be quarantined because they had close contact with the “infected” employee.
The sudden and temporary business halt cost the company about $175,000 in lost productivity, according to the FBI, but that medical document turned out to be fake.
A closer look into the letter revealed the document had no official letterhead from a medical facility and the phone number that was listed in it was not associated with any legitimate COVID-19 test providers, CNN reported.
Authorities urged companies to look for inconsistencies in medical documentation from their employees and contact medical providers listed on those documents to verify the information.
The FBI has issued a series of warnings about a rise in coronavirus-inspired scams that have emerged in recent weeks. It has warned, for instance, that bad actors all over the country have been tricking people into sending them money for fake treatments, vaccines, medical supplies and charities.
“Criminals are actively manipulating the COVID-19 pandemic to their advantage,” Calvin Shivers, assistant director of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division, said in a statement Monday. “We ask all Americans to remain vigilant to avoid falling victim to these schemes.”