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Lewis County Health System Warns Community of
Spoofing Calls
Published: May 19, 2023 at
12:45 p.m.
By: Press Release from Lewis County Health System
FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
May 19, 2023
Lewis County Health
System Warns Residents of Spoofing Calls
LOWVILLE,
NY─ Lewis County Health System officials were recently notified that
some patients are receiving spoofing calls from scammers posing as
representatives from the hospital or one of the health system's affiliated
clinics/physician practices. The
hospital wants to notify their patients and community members that this is
a scam using Caller ID "spoofing," a high-tech manipulation of
the Caller ID feature that allows the scammer to disguise their identity by
making the phone number appear to be that of the hospital.
The scam callers
are asking for private Medicare/insurance information, confirmation of your
doctor, and other personal data like your birthday and social security
number. As with all scamming calls,
if you have any doubt about the authenticity of a call, it is okay to hang
up or ask the scammer for a callback number, as often this will result in
the scammer hanging up. Please do
not give any personal information to the scammer.
Scammers
sometimes go one step further when callers answer, saying the patient's
doctor referred them. The scammer
then tries to lure consumers into sharing their Medicare or social security
number, along with additional information, which can then be used for
fraudulent Medicare claims for durable medical equipment such as knee
braces, canes, or a glucose monitor at no out-of-pocket cost to the
consumer.
"One scammer
told a patient if they didn't provide the requested information Medicare
would cancel their insurance. You
should know that Medicare will not cancel the insurance," stated
Health System spokesperson Christina Flint.
When in doubt, it
is best to check with the source directly.
If you receive a call that you feel needs to be validated, call your
physician's office directly or the main hospital phone at 315-376-5200; if
you have questions about a bill, you may contact the LCHS billing office at
315-376-5210 to verify. Staff would
welcome your return call and understand your hesitation.
In addition, the
following resources are available to report a scam. If you encounter a scam call, hang up and
report the call to the Federal Trade Commission at 1-877-FTC-HELP or online
at www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov.
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