I was hoping to not be writing about COVID-19 this week – trying to get back to normal. Unfortunately, we may be in the midst of redefining normal.

The number of important coronavirus scam warnings and other alerts continue. Again, thanks to my friends at Scambusters for allowing me to reprint their latest information.

Scammers have added misery to an already bad situation by devising all manner of schemes to trick people either into handing over their money or downloading malware onto their PCs.

Our first coronavirus (COVID-19) warning, however, is aimed at people who, as a result of the illness, find themselves working from home for the first time. Read the details below.

In today’s TechTips, I wanted to highlight some resources you might find helpful as you adapt to a changing work environment. I am committed to being your partner while things remain uncertain with COVID-19, and that means providing you with as many resources as possible as well as our unwavering support.

Insurance Coverage Resources

Besides being a technology geek, I am also an insurance geek. Most people don’t know (unless you read my long bio) that I received a Masters of Arts degree in Insurance Law in the mid-80s from what is now the David C. Clark School of Law. No, I am not an attorney, but I have studied more about insurance law than most.

I know you are receiving client calls asking about insurance coverage for COVID-19 related losses. The resources below may help you formulate an answer.

Any good business contingency plan tries to think about the unthinkable and make plans for how the organization should react.

These contingency plans are being tested with the spread of the COVID-19 virus. In this issue of TechTips, I am providing a list of information resources you might find helpful as you make plans for transitioning to a virtual and work at home environment, at least for the next few weeks.

Some of these resources you have most likely encountered by other organizations. I include them here to make sure you have access to the information. This list is not comprehensive. Use it as a starting point and add to other information you’re gathering.

Being in the insurance industry, we should be aware that preparing for the “unlikely events” that could happen is what insurance is all about and wise planning.

Thanks to my friends at Scambusters for allowing me to reprint the latest issue of their newsletter. I hope this information will help you avoid being caught by the many scams that are popping up. For example, Amazon has removed or blocked over 1 million products on the Amazon Marketplace for either false claims or price gouging.

I’ll let them take it from here.

If you recently read about a coronavirus cure, we hope you didn’t act on it. Because there isn’t one — so far at least.

Nor do you necessarily need to buy and wear a mask or invest in companies that will supposedly make a lot of money from this crisis. And beware of donating to fake charities claiming to be supporting research and treatment.

We’ll tell you more about these con tricks relating to pandemic disease outbreaks in this week’s issue.

Let’s get started…

In the past, I have used various ways to make lists and keep track of projects and information. Microsoft Excel or Access has its place, but for keeping track of simple things, they are overkill.

Your lists could include a honey-do list, a list of restaurants with notes, a list of wines in your wine cellar, or a list of books that you have read or movies you have seen (how many times have you read the same book twice?).

Your lists at work might include a simple CRM or sales tracking process, a simple project management list (renewing a personal or small commercial account), or an employee directory.

Once you start thinking about it, you realize that you make lists all the time!

I do too. I keep lists of agency management system platforms and their vendors as well as a list of comparative quoting platforms. I can easily reference these lists when I get questions from agents about which platforms they should consider.

An alternative that I’ve been using for a few years is Airtable.

Airtable is an online database that looks and acts like a spreadsheet. It allows you to create, use, and share small relational databases. It is designed to be used by smaller, not enterprise, organizations.