ALERTS and Information
June 9, 2009
Medical Information Scam
A resident from the Macungie area received a call from an unknown male seeking her subscription to a Counrtywide
medical program where her personal medical information would allegedly be entered into a National data base and
made available to any EMS agency in the US. The woman questioned the call and made inquiries with local ambulance corps where
she learned no such data base was used or known of. The toll free telephone number was checked on a search engine
and she quickly realized several other people had reported that they were scammed out of money and personal information from calls
like the one she received.
May 22, 2009
A resident received a call from a male with a heavy accent. The male was attempting
to collect a "debt" from years ago. The resident knew the alleged debt was
suspicious and disconnected the call. The male was loud and rude during the conversation
and had identified the female by several descriptors. Descriptors included her name, date of birth, employer, maiden name
and other identifying. She was instructed to send a settlement amount by way of WESTERN UNION to an unknown female in California.
The resident did the right thing by calling police because we were able to determine the call was bogus.
NEVER send money to unknown recipients. Always ask questions but NEVER give out or verify your personal information.
Several articles have run in local newspapers warning residents of electronic scams and "prize letters" being mailed to specific addresses.
Be wary of these types of letters. THEY ARE SCAMS designed to reward you with large cash prizes which you will never see.
The letters have arrived many different ways. Some are showing up through UPS and FedEx couriers. They are usually accompanied by real looking
banks checks with security features embedded in the check stock.
If you receive a check in the mail from an unknown source call police to investigate it prior to depositing the check. Most likely the check is counterfeit.