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Phony Health Department Callers Up to No Good

July 17, 2006
Identity theft phishing scams take many forms, and many of them rely on telemarketers. After all, consumers have grown accustomed over the years to getting calls at home, and while they may find them annoying, they don’t always hang up. They should.

In Colorado, law enforcement officials are dealing with a rash of incidents in which a telemarketer claims to be from the Colorado Department of Health and offers vouchers for for to $1,000 in free medical services.

"There is no such voucher program being offered through the Health Department," warned Colorado Attorney General John Suthers. "These calls are simply an attempt to fraudulently obtain consumers' checking account information in order to commit theft."

The callers usually have the consumer's name, address, date of birth, and the name of their banking institution, promoting a false belief that they are indeed with a government agency.

The callers read the routing number for the bank or credit union and ask that the consumer recite the next five numbers on their checks. These five numbers are the consumer's account number. Once an account number is obtained, it can be used to illegally empty a bank account with one withdrawal.

The scam is not just limited to Colorado. Suthers says he’s learned that more than 200 consumers in several states have already been contacted in this scam.

The callers have been noted to call repeatedly demanding the information. One Colorado consumer was called eight times in two and a half weeks despite her requests that the callers stop.

"Never provide personal or financial information during an unsolicited telemarketing call," Attorney General Suthers reminded consumers. "There is simply no way to know for sure who you are dealing with. Legitimate government agencies do not engage in unsolicited telemarketing campaigns."

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