Gephardt: CDC Call On Your Phone Might Be Legitimate

PARK CITY, Utah — We are all on guard against calls from scammers, but a call that appears to be coming from the CDC has some wondering — could it be real, and is it important?

When Adam Moffat got a call from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention asking that he call them back, he said all sorts of disturbing thoughts raced through his head. Could they be calling to tell him that someone he knows is infected with COVID-19, or was he exposed himself?

Those thoughts quickly faded, and he wondered if, nay assumed, it was a scam.

“Hello, I’m calling on behalf of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,” said a clearly prerecorded voice in a VM left on Adam’s phone.

The voicemail stated they were going to ask for personal information.

“The CDC is conducting an important survey about the hope of vaccinations of children and teens,” it said.

“This is bogus,” Adam said. “This is totally someone trying to scam me out of my kids’ information, my information.”

Adam didn’t want to call back and ended up talking to an identity thief, but he also doesn’t want to NOT call back if it could help others.

“If it’s a legit thing, and it helps our current situation, sure, I’d be more than happy to give them our information, but it does feel odd,” he said. “I mean, I don’t know. That’s when I downloaded it and sent it to you.”

The CDC confirmed in an email to KSL TV that it is actively conducting surveys, and that their people are leaving voicemails. It’s called the “National Immunization Survey.”

The CDC said the more folks who answer, the “more accurate” the data on how many kids get vaccinated. Participants are chosen “randomly.” The CDC said the survey has been going on for years, and is not a response to COVID-19.

If you are skeptical if a call you got from the CDC really came from the organization, you should call the CDC directly. The numbers, as well as more information about the survey, can be found here.