An on-going scam to bill senior citizens for medical alert device service is gaining steam in Kansas and other Midwestern states.
The Better Business Bureau says there’s been a significant increase in calls about the scheme. The pre-recorded message claims that someone has purchased a medical alert device for the person as a gift. Then the recipient is asked to verify his or her identity with a bank account or credit card number.
Jim Hegarty heads the Better Business Bureau in a four-state region including Kansas. He says giving that information results in a recurring charge, usually around 35 dollars a month.
“Then they have a very difficult time reaching anybody at the company to stop the recurring charges on their credit card,” says Hegarty.
Hegarty says the best advice is to simply hang up on these robo-calls.
“It’s vital that you never give out sensitive information, credit card information, Social Security numbers, to folks unless you absolutely are certain of who they are,” syas Hegarty.
Hegarty says unless you dialed the call yourself, it’s impossible to know who’s on the other end of call.
