Fake cures, scams, phony medications and price gouging: Predators prey during coronavirus
LOS ANGELES - Three weeks ago, Lorina's cellphone rang. Seeing it was a local call, the 61-year-old Riverside resident picked up.
A woman's voice said she was working with Medicare, the national health insurance program, to distribute tests for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. All she needed, the woman said, was Lorina's name, address and Social Security and Medicare information.
"And stupid me, I gave it to her," Lorina, who asked that her last name not be used to protect her privacy, said in an interview.
So goes one of the many frauds local and federal authorities say have emerged amid the COVID-19 pandemic, feeding off the fear and confusion bred by the virus and its lack of a cure or vaccine.
They range in perniciousness, from purveyors of unorthodox medical treatments who pivoted to hawking remedies for COVID-19, to
