North MSP urges public to watch out for scams amid coronavirus outbreak

North MSP Gail Ross is urging her constituents to be on their guard for fraudsters and fake news following an increase in reports about scam emails, text messages and doorstep callers.

Across the UK there is evidence that members of the public, as well as organisations of all sizes, are being targeted by emails, texts, phone calls, social media messages and online shopping scams relating to the coronavirus outbreak.

Police Scotland has now launched a Shut Out Scammers resource to protect the public and businesses from Covid-19 related scams. The UK's National Cyber Security Centre has also started an email reporting service which the public can use to report any suspicious activity.

Mrs Ross, the SNP MSP for Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, said: "While the community response to the coronavirus outbreak in our constituency has been overwhelmingly positive, it's disappointing to see a few individuals taking advantage of the situation with unsolicited emails, phone calls and text messages.

"During this crisis, everyone should take extra care to ensure that they only share information from trusted sources, ask for identification from all doorstep callers, and never hand over any personal information.

"It’s vital that people remain vigilant against scams during this challenging time and report any suspicious activity to the relevant authorities."

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