Coronavirus track and trace

I had the message, followed by the questionnaire and an instruction to isolate until a certain date. This was followed up by a phone call checking whether I needed any assistance to isolate effectively.

I did check (well, DH did) that the original text was legitimate.

Sorry it won’t let me post the image

We went to a pizza restaurant on Thursday for our grandsons birthday and checked in via the restaurant track and trace. Within a couple of hours of getting home, we all had a notification that we had been near someone with Covid. This seemed unlikely as there was hardly anyone in the restaurant, and all distanced, and surely no-one would have been there if they were positive! It’s the only place we had checked in. My daughter was concerned, so we dug around the internet a bit and came up with this info. Apparently the notifications don’t come from the NHS app but from Google or Apple. Seems to be causing unnecessary worry.

There are so many of these scams going around at the moment, most of them to gain money. However I don’t see how this one can gain money from you. I would wait to see if there is a follow-up.

My DH received a message on his phone which was similar but it then disappeared. This is also a scam.

This sheds light on it, I think you have had an alert generated through the system on yiur phone, not the app. So you might have been in the same vicinity as someone with CV19, but too far away to have been at risk, you don't need to isolate!
www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-54389083?fbclid=IwAR25sg00BmfwegfYUftUYuBjMIOiiwfAUNxIYmjivA8u-Lz

Thank you all for your really helpful advice will do all you have advised and also be wary of scams.

The who called me site is awash with reports of scams.

Yes I have heard of scams where they say you have been n contact with someone who has covid and tell you to pay the caller for a test ( when test should be free).

This site may help you to at least know if the text was genuine, Gwyneth.
It has a section where you can type in the number and report it, if it isn't, and also up to date info about virus scams.

who-called.co.uk/Coronavirus

My DD had a scam phone call last night claiming she had been near someone with Covid. She checked the phone number via Google and it was on the scam list

If you have the number the text came from it wouldn’t hurt to check it.

This is what is supposed to happen...

"The text, call or email will tell you the next steps you should take, with a link to a questionnaire."

My first thought is, is the text genuine, as there are a huge amount of scam calls and texts going on. Did it definitely come from NHSTracing?

I believe if you have received this text you are supposed to start isolating for 14 days and await a call from the Track and Trace system, but there are no instructions what to do if you don't!