Scammers using medical records to fool Ill. victims
CHICAGO -- There's a warning about a new scam where you get a call from someone who knows all about your medical records and what medications you take. That's just the beginning, reports CBS Chicago.
According to the station, the caller then tries to get critical information from you: your bank account number.
Chris Carlin, an Illinois mom, received a series of suspicious phone calls last month from someone claiming to be with the health department.
The callers had her cell phone number and information Carlin said only she and her doctor knew. She told CBS Chicago the callers even knew about a prior miscarriage that only her doctor knew about at Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove.
They went on to tell Carlin she was entitled to a financial award if she joined a class-action lawsuit involving the anti-nausea drug called Zofran for alleged birth defects and side effects. They knew she had a prescription for the drug.
"I said, 'Leave me alone,' and I hung up," said Carlin. "And a third person calls - it was crazy."
"They are trying to use me for something and that to me is frightening," said Carlin to the station.
Meanwhile, Gisela Cabrera told the station she received similar calls from area codes all over the world.
"This, one of the numbers, it was from Kenya," said Cabrera.
Cabrera's doctor -- like Carlin's -- works at an Advocate-owned hospital - Illinois Masonic in Chicago. She and Carlin both wonder if the phone scammers got their medical records from a widely reported 2013 patient information breach they were both victims of within the Advocate chain.
"It could be some sort of data breach," said Todd Kossow, who is with the Federal Trade Commission.
He tells the station that knowledge of your medical records can make scammers sound more legitimate over the phone.
"They want the consumer to believe that they are with some state or federal health department," Kossow told the station.
He says the agency is investigating other similar complaints, and that ultimately the bad guys are after the numbers to your bank account which they will attempt to drain.
A spokesman says they will take action to determine what occurred, but says the computers involved in the data breach did not include medical records used in the calls.