(CNN) — Cases of covid-19 continue to increase dramatically, leading to brutally long lines at test sites and empty shelves in stores where there were once stocks rapid test kits for home.
Now an additional problem has arisen: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is warning about the online sale of fraudulent home tests to desperate customers.
“It is not a surprise that, according to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), fake and unauthorized home tests are popping up online as opportunistic scammers take advantage of the increase in the lawsuit, “the FTC said in a press release. this week.
The coronavirus self tests – also known as home tests or over-the-counter tests – are one of several risk reduction measures that can protect people by reducing the chances of spreading the coronavirus, according to US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (CDC). These tests can be done at home or anywhere, regardless of vaccination status or symptoms, says the CDC, and are easy to use for quick results.
However, the test kits are in short supply and increasingly expensive, forcing some people to search online or anywhere to find them.
However, buyers should beware of scammers selling fake home tests.
How to spot a fake test kit
The FTC suggests following these four steps before purchasing and using a test kit:
1. You only buy tests authorized by the US Food and Drug Administration. The FDA website has a list of more than 40 authorized home tests, some of which have age restrictions. You can buy these tests online, in pharmacies, and in some retail stores.
2. Check the FDA list of covid-19 fraudulent products to make sure the test kit you’re about to buy, or the company you’re buying it from, isn’t there.
3. Look at a variety of sellers and compare credible reviews from expert sources such as medical professionals or healthcare organizations before making a purchasing decision.
The FTC also advised searching the Internet for the seller of the home test kits along with words like “scam,” “complaint,” or “review” to catch scammers.
“Using these fake products is not only a waste of money, it increases the risk of spreading COVID-19 inadvertently or not receiving proper treatment,” the FTC said.
4. If you choose to purchase a test kit online, use your credit card to dispute the charge if you discover that it is a scam.
“Using these fake products is not only a waste of money, it increases the risk of spreading COVID-19 inadvertently or not receiving proper treatment,” the FTC noted.
Also, you should check if the kit you are about to buy has not expired.
The importance of getting tested
While the highly transmissible omicron variant continues to increase COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in the US, health experts say it is critical that Americans continue safe practices to prevent infection.
One of these practices is to get tested regularly, even when you don’t feel sick or show symptoms.
Unfortunately, supply can’t keep up with demand, but since omicron is so much more infectious, testing will be more important than ever, according to Mara Aspinall, a professor of practice in the Arizona State University College of Health Solutions.
“We are in a very, very precarious time,” Aspinall told CNN last month. “Testing is our only exit strategy from all of this.”
To date, covid-19 has killed at least 833,987 people and infected about 58.5 million in the United States, according to Johns Hopkins University.
CNN’s Travis Caldwell, Jen Christensen, and Tara Subramaniam contributed to this report.