How to spot a coronavirus Test and Trace scammer

Soon after the launch of the Test and Trace service, reports on social media suggested that scammers may already be exploiting it for ‘phishing’ campaigns targeted at vulnerable people.

Last weekend, Jenny Harries, the deputy chief medical officer, said that people will know they are receiving a genuine Test and Trace call. She said “it will be very obvious in the conversation that you have with them that they are genuine.”

You should not rely on how “obvious” it seems that the caller is genuinely from Test and Trace.

Full Fact has published a simple guide to help spot the difference between an opportunistic scammer and the real Test and Trace scheme.

What you should look out for

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Building trust in information at a time of crisis

This week, Full Fact also published the fourth in a series of policy briefings, Building trust in information at a time of crisis.

We looked back at how we’ve fought 10 weeks of bad information on the coronavirus/Covid-19, what research can teach us about similar crises, and updating you on the impact we’re making.

Download the pdf

FACT CHECK

Can hand sanitiser catch fire in a hot car?

We’ve seen a number of posts containing the same photo of a car on fire. They suggest that hand sanitiser, when left unattended in hot cars, can combust spontaneously.

This appears to be based on the idea that hand sanitiser contains high concentrations of alcohol, which is flammable in certain circumstances.

This is misleading. There would need to be a spark to start a fire at temperatures this low. The flammable ingredients in hand sanitiser would need to be at much higher temperatures, over 350°C, to combust without a spark.

Where did the photo come from?

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FACT CHECK

Claim that one million children were kept home from school this week is uncertain

Three national newspapers reported a stat that one million schoolchildren in England did not return to school, despite some Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 classes re-starting.

This appears to be based on a survey by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER). It found that 1,000 senior school leaders estimated on average that 46% of families would keep their children at home, combined with the rough estimate that there are two million children eligible to return.

But the figure produced by the NFER survey is just an average based on what teachers thought in early May—rather than families themselves.

Even assuming 46% of families did keep their children home, that doesn’t necessarily equate to 46% of the children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 who went back.

A-polling headlines

The latest episode of The Full Fact Podcast is out now!

This week, we look at whether the UK now conducts more Covid-19 testing than “virtually every other country in Europe”

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