Sonora Quest Warning Patients About COVID-19 Scam Calls

A large COVID-19 testing lab, Sonoran Quest, issued a warning to patients about a phone scam.
During this stressful, confusing time, scammers take advantage of an opportunity by using an “imposter scam.” There have been reported incidences of scammers posing on the phone as Sonora Quest representatives to gain patients’ personal information. In this “imposter scam,” the scammers claim they have COVID-19 test results.

According to Sonora Quest, the company “may return calls to patients regarding accessing their results, but we do not provide COVID-19 results or collect payment over the phone unless initiated by the patient. Sonora Quest’s normal protocol is to provide results to the ordering physician for them to relay those results to the patient so they can provide the next steps for care based on a patient’s full medical history.”

The company advises that based on the regulations and expected coverage for testing, it is not billing patients for COVID-19 PCR or antibody testing when it is ordered by a physician. These tests are likely to be covered by insurance, if the physician’s order meets the insurer’s medical coverage guidelines, resulting in a zero out-of-pocket expense, according to the company.


“We work directly with your insurance, or the Department of Health and Human Services for those who are uninsured. Note that this does not include direct-access testing for COVID antibodies that is self-ordered through My Lab ReQuest™ when payment is due at the time of service.”

The company would like to remind patients that they can obtain their test results by contacting their physician or visiting www.sonoraquest.com/results and securely logging into their account.

The following are tips provided by Sonora Quest to avoid imposter scams:
• Remember that Sonora Quest will never ask for your Social Security number over the phone. Never provide sensitive, personal information over to the phone.
• Know that Sonora Quest will never contact you to pay for COVID-19 testing over the phone.
• Sonora Quest will not provide testing results over the phone directly to the patient.
• If you did not order a test, do not provide any of your information. Hang up immediately.