GREENSBORO, N.C. — If you get a text with a link in it, what should you do? What if you get a phone number in a text, what should you do? Normally 2WTK would tell you not to click the link and not to call the number, but what if you do business with that company or you are waiting for a confirmation for an appointment?
This week, I got this text message:
Tanya, Confirm your vaccine at Coliseum COVID vaccine CL 24 hours ahead. Check-in now! phreesia.me/3Y7GNjDlwit Questions? 336-890-1188
Here's the thing, I scheduled my booster shot at the coliseum for this weekend, but when there wasn't anything with Cone Health on this text I was suspect. So, how do you know for sure? What do you do?
Short answer, I Googled it. First I researched the phone number and immediately Cone Health came up, confirming the number was right.
Then I Googled the name on the text message. It was ‘phreesia’ and that
sent me to a patient intake tool.
So, It took me less than two minutes to figure out, and yes, I confirmed it with Cone Health.
You only want to do this research if you think a text like this could be real. You wouldn't do this if you got a text from a bank you don't do business with, then you know it's fake right from the beginning.
Along with the text, you may also get an email. The email has a Cone Health logo on it, but again the address is from 'phreesia'.