Coronavirus scammers use fake 'pop-up' COVID-19 testing sites to steal DNA, personal information in Kentucky

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- State and local officials in Kentucky are warning against "pop-up" COVID-19 testing sites which offer quick results for cash.

A self-proclaimed medical marketing company set up makeshift testing sites outside various churches in Louisville with workers dressed head to toe in hazmat gear.

Metro Council President David James and Louisville advocates have been hunting down who they call fake COVID-19 testers, reported WDRB.

Local officials said the scammers are charging more than $200 a test and using people's DNA and personal information.

"It's really Medicaid fraud, is what it actually is. There is no reason that you should spend $240 dollars for a COVID test," James said. "And they're using the same gloves on Person A that they used on Person B, that they used on Person C."

Officials said the group may be from Illinois, and believe they are the same people who claimed to test people's DNA for diseases last year.

"They're the scum of the Earth and they're preying on the poorest of the poor, and I'm going to do everything in my power to get them the [explicit] out of Kentucky," James said.

The experts at the Better Business Bureau warn that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.