An Edinburgh woman has issued a warning on the social platform Nextdoor after she got a "very believable" scam message pretending to be from NHS Scotland.
The woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, said: "I was about to travel to England and was anxious not to be positive. A friend had a legitimate track and trace text the week before, but it was just to test with a lateral flow.
READ MORE - Edinburgh residents appalled after neighbourhood targeted by 'graffiti vandals'
"I was still taken in even though it said PCR testing. The link sent me to what seemed to be a legitimate NHS website, but when it asked for a small amount of money for posting a PCR test, I was suspicious.
"I also had a friend who told me it was a scam. It's so easy to make a mistake and fall for these sophisticated scams."
The scam mimics messages from NHS Scotland that were an often occurrence during the times when the Track and Trace scheme was in place to help tackle the spread of Covid-19.
Although it was announced earlier this month that venues around the country could abandon the scheme, that sort of scam still seems to be common.
The scam message prompts people to click through a link that takes them to what seems to be an NHS Scotland website and then asks them to pay £1.40 for postage of a PCR test kit.
The post, in which the woman expressed her concerns and warned others to be aware of the scam going around, quickly got many comments and reactions, with some thanking the woman for the heads up and others saying they also received those messages.
One woman left a comment under the post saying that her partner got the same scam message, even though he had passed away in September of last year.
It comes after Ofcom has warned of a dramatic increase in Covid-related scams. On a page, aimed at warning people of the misleading messages, the organisation pointed out several examples of scam messages and how to recognise similar malicious texts. You can get more information here.
If you come across a message that looks like a scam, you can report it here.
