UnityPoint Health-St. Luke’s Hospital and Mercy Medical Center, both in Cedar Rapids, are warning the public about a potential hospitals phone scam.
In a joint release, the hospitals say they’ve recently been made aware of reports that people in the community are receiving phone calls from potential scam artists impersonating health care employees and asking for Social Security Numbers and other personal information.
The phone numbers appear to originate from the hospitals when, in fact, they do not, the hospitals said.
The scammer’s goal is to steal personal and confidential information from unsuspecting patients. Sometimes the scammers even ask for payment. These fraudsters may have access to publicly available information and use it to manipulate or trick individuals into revealing more sensitive information.
Health care organizations will never ask for an individual’s Social Security Number or personal financial information over the phone, according to the release.
If individuals are suspicious that someone is attempting to scam them, they should not engage with the caller, but hang up the phone, the Cedar Rapids hospitals say.
Individuals are encouraged to check their online health care accounts to validate billing information, or to call their provider directly to report these calls and/or validate their authenticity.
