Latest Telephone Scam

Hi Neighbors,

I just wanted to alert you to a current scam that could easily trap an unsuspecting victim. I received such a call today.

We no longer answer the phone when we don’t recognize a number. If the call is valid, the person will invariably leave a message and we will then call back. Very few unrecognized callers ever leave messages - until today.

The message claimed to be Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center which had been trying unsuccessfully to reach us. They left an 800 number for us to call. My wife called that number and was asked to verify information, at which point she immediately hung up. Clearly this was a bogus number designed to get get an unsuspecting victim to reveal critical personal information that thieves could use to defraud us.

My wife then called the hospital using a number we have on file. The hospital confirmed that it was bogus and that they had a received a number of inquiries about this.

Most of us are likely to return a call to a local hospital or other medical facility or provider, so this method could easily work for the thieves.

Our best protection against such scams is to never verify any information unless we initiated the call and know for sure that we are speaking to a legitimate agent.

Please make sure that any children and elderly parents are aware of this and do remind them regularly.