A woman has been left worried at the thought of being home alone after a contact tracer who knocked at her door to make sure she was self-isolating then sent a flirty text asking if he could keep her number.
Charlotte Roffey, 27, was quarantining at home in Winchester, Hampshire, after enjoying a sunshine break in Majorca when the Test and Trace worker called around last Saturday.
Within minutes of chatting on the doorstep, the man messaged her with a waving hand emoji saying: ‘Do I have the permission to save your number at all?
‘Please ignore this if you don’t want that or have a husband or whatever lol. Apologies I asked.’
Ms Roffey sent a screenshot of the texts to her partner William Machin, 29, who was playing rugby at the time.
She told The Sun he was ‘very angry’ and ‘wanted to confront the man’ but she talked him out of it.
Ms Roffey said the contact tracer’s behaviour has ‘left me worried in my own home over who is going to knock on my door next’.
She went on: ‘I think it’s appalling that he used his power in a completely inappropriate way and it made me concerned for any other woman in the same position.’
‘I was alone and felt uncomfortable that he had access to all my details.’
Ms Roffey told the newspaper she did not respond to the messages, but the man has since gone on to add her on social media and sent her a friend request on Facebook.
The Department of Health and Social Care has since launched an investigation into the incident.
Ms Roffey had enjoyed a three-night mini-break to Andratx with some friends on July 19.
She completed a passenger locator form in line with travel rules, filling in her name, age, mobile number and home address to be passed on to the Test and Trace programme.
Two days later, she got the knock at the door from the man who sent her the inappropriate texts.
She described how the ‘friendly’ worker told her he had already marked her as ‘at home’ on the system, but said he did not seem to have any uniform or accreditation.
Ms Roffey added: ‘It didn’t feel professional at all, considering I had been anxious about someone coming to visit my home.’
The worker even divulged ‘tricks’ to avoid being caught if she needed to leave home during her 10-day self-isolation period, she said.
Ms Roffey explained that she wanted to share her ordeal to make people aware of how their data can be exploited.
She is also ‘worried for young women or vulnerable people that may be naïve’, adding: ‘People definitely need to be aware that this is happening.’
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care told the newspaper: ‘We take complaints about NHS Test and Trace contact tracers extremely seriously and they will all be investigated and appropriate action taken.’
They added that ‘the Government expects all of our operatives to behave in a professional manner at all times’ and urged anyone unhappy with the service to complain to NHS Track and Trace either online or by calling 119.
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