402-413-0762 John called said was from shipping department and that my medial alert was ready to install I told him to go to hell, and hung up. What a joke.
Consistent with the opening move in a fraudulent shakedown racket. Choice of this "medical alert" "product" would be consistent with targetting of seniors for fraud.
Fraudulent M.O. similar to fraudulent "business directory" shakedown scams or "toner shipment" mail fraud scams, but targetted against victims they believe are vulnerable to intimidation.
Next moves would be either to attempt to cram through fraudulent charges against your checking account, or possibly to ship you something trivial then attempt to extort payment for it, claiming you "agreed". They would probably attempt to use intimidation through possibly playing a doctored "recording of your authorization" in an attempt to intimidate you, or embarass you with your banker, who you might have contacted to dispute fraudulent charges.
Above pattern is common with cross border fraudulent telemarketers operating out of Montreal Canada. Similar schemes aretargetted toward small businesses ("directory" billing scams) or the elderly ("medical discount card" scams).
Watch your bank statements closely, since this type of scammer sometimes illegally buys bank account information from shady merchants to use to cram fraudulent charges. They may already have a bank account number, and only be calling to record some snippet they can claim is "authorization", maybe just a "yes" they can edit into a different script, to cover their charge cramming.
0
tj
Note the reports in other complaints that this caller pretending to be "from shipping" attempts to talk over the victims, even to the point of provoking anger. Intimidation accompanies fraud, especially when targetted against the elderly.
Name is so generic BBB shows numerous companies using it.
Complaints against the phone number are consistent, but thin. We may have to wait a bit for identity or location information to start showing up, possibly in the next month if they are cramming charges against bank accounts.
By Susan Tompor, USA TODAY 9 a.m. EDT June 9, 2013
Barbara Adams, 70, keeps getting one of those annoying robocalls that she just knows has to be a scam. The voice implies that somebody, her doctor or maybe her children, signed her up for a medical alert system.
It's all free, the recording implies.
"And everything is ready to be sent to your home," said Adams, who lives in Dearborn Heights, Mich.
Adams said she even phoned her daughter to double check, if maybe she did sign up for some service. But no, the daughter didn't pay for any medical alert system for her mother.
"I couldn't believe it. They called me again Saturday," Adams said.
The medical alert system scam is in full swing in Michigan, as well as other states including New York, Texas, Wisconsin and Kentucky. The Michigan Attorney General's Office has received about 50 complaints about this scam in the past two weeks, according to Joy Yearout, director of communications for Attorney General Bill Schuette.
The scumbaggery against seniors has reached a super-low point with this con job. Who doesn't know a senior who fears a break-in? Or a widow who wonders what would happen in a medical emergency? Why not tug at the heartstrings a little more and claim that someone cares so much about them that a loved one or medical professional even signed them up for this "free service"?
Then, of course, smack someone on a fixed income with a big bill, if they fall for the phony pitch.
The trick is that if seniors do agree to the system in some cases it can cost $35 a month or more to operate. The scam could also be a way for con artists to obtain bank or credit card information or even a Social Security number to use later in ID theft. Or a way for someone to pressure seniors into paying for other equipment or services.
Authorities said in some cases, after consumers press a button to accept the offer, they quickly receive another call asking for personal information, including credit card numbers.
"The call appears to target the elderly, disabled and diabetic," the Better Business Bureau warned in a statement. "The automated message says 'that someone has ordered a free medical alert system for you, and this call is to confirm shipping instructions."
Adams says she remembers the automated call saying something like "Press 5 for yes." Adams has gotten three or four of these calls about this "free system." She keeps hanging up.
One Plymouth retiree said his wife got the first call in March after going to an emergency room with a dislocated shoulder. When she got the first computerized call, she pressed one of the numbers to talk to a live person who then firmly insisted she had to accept shipment of the medical alert device because it was ordered for her. When she asked who ordered it, the person said he was not at the liberty to say who ordered it.
The retiree promptly hung up when the man then asked for her address. But the Plymouth couple said the calls keep coming fairly regularly.
Some computerized calls can claim they're associated with an insurance company or another well-known name. Some scams even claim that free services come through Medicare, which is not the case at all.
The Federal Trade Commission took action in March against Instant Response Systems, based on charges of violating telemarketing rules and violations of the unordered merchandise statute. Instant Response Systems is based in Brooklyn, N.Y., and also does business as Medical Alert Services. The FTC said in that case telemarketers would claim the monitoring is free but consumers would have to pay $817 to $1,602 for the service. Payment plans were supposedly dependent on a consumer's financial situation.
In many cases, the FTC said, Instant Response Systems sent letters, bogus invoices and even threatened elderly consumers who did not order the product and claimed that the consumer owed money for it. In some cases, consumers were sent medical alert pendants that they did not order. An FTC complaint is not a finding or ruling that the defendant has actually violated the law. The case will be decided by the court.
Some recorded calls are actually made to sound as if they are "live" with background noise.
Oh, yes, the scammers are clever and can make many things sound just believable enough to make someone think that the offer could possibly be real.
The BBB is telling consumers just to hang up the phone, do not press any buttons and if someone does talk to you, be sure to first ask for the company's physical address. If the representative wants your address but won't give out its own address, it's a red flag to a scam.
Contact Susan Tompor: 313-222-6823 or stompor@freepress.com ..."
0
tj
FTC press release. Note that in this case they appear to be located in New York. M.O. consistent with generic fraud profile above.
FTC Action Halts Brooklyn Company from Using Deception, Threats, and Intimidation to Trick Elderly Consumers Into Paying for Unordered Medical Alert Devices
At the Federal Trade Commission’s request, a U.S. district court has temporarily shut down a Brooklyn, New York-based operation that the allegedly used deception, threats, and intimidation to induce elderly consumers to pay for medical alert systems they neither ordered nor wanted.
In its complaint, the FTC charges that telemarketers for Instant Response Systems call elderly consumers – many of whom are in poor health and rely on others for help with managing their finances – and try to pressure them into buying a medical alert service that consists of a pendant that supposedly allows them to get help during emergencies. In numerous instances, Instant Response Systems allegedly has falsely claimed during sales calls that consumers who did not order the medical alert service have, in fact, bought the service and owe the company money -- often hundreds of dollars.
The company also allegedly has shipped bogus invoices and unordered medical alert pendants to consumers without their consent, has repeatedly threatened consumers with legal action in order to induce and coerce payment, and has subjected them to verbal abuse. In addition, the FTC contends that Instant Response Systems has illegally made numerous unsolicited calls to consumers whose phone numbers are listed on the National Do Not Call Registry.
According to the FTC’s complaint, consumers who tried to contact the company to dispute the false charges or find out how to return unopened packages often were unable to reach anyone. If they did reach a representative, they allegedly faced threats, verbal abuse, and demands that they pay for the product.
Based on this alleged conduct, the FTC charged the company and its principals with making illegal misrepresentations to consumers, violating the Telemarketing Sales Rule by calling phone numbers on the DNC Registry, and violating the Unordered Merchandise Statute by sending consumers pendants they did not order.
The defendants charged in the case are Instant Response Systems, LLC, also doing business as Response Systems, B.B. Mercantile, Ltd., Medical Alert Industrial, and Medical Alert Services; and Jason Abraham, also known as Yaakov Abraham, individually and as an officer of Instant Response Systems. Abraham was previously sued by the FTC in 2003 for selling international “drivers’ licenses” and phony university diplomas. ..."
Comments
https://complaintwire.org/complaint/TsXpXH_-GQg/medical-alert-systems
Consistent with the opening move in a fraudulent shakedown racket.
Choice of this "medical alert" "product" would be consistent with targetting of seniors for fraud.
Fraudulent M.O. similar to fraudulent "business directory" shakedown scams or "toner shipment" mail fraud scams, but targetted against victims they believe are vulnerable to intimidation.
Next moves would be either to attempt to cram through fraudulent charges against your checking account, or possibly to ship you something trivial then attempt to extort payment for it, claiming you "agreed". They would probably attempt to use intimidation through possibly playing a doctored "recording of your authorization" in an attempt to intimidate you, or embarass you with your banker, who you might have contacted to dispute fraudulent charges.
Above pattern is common with cross border fraudulent telemarketers operating out of Montreal Canada. Similar schemes aretargetted toward small businesses ("directory" billing scams) or the elderly ("medical discount card" scams).
Watch your bank statements closely, since this type of scammer sometimes illegally buys bank account information from shady merchants to use to cram fraudulent charges. They may already have a bank account number, and only be calling to record some snippet they can claim is "authorization", maybe just a "yes" they can edit into a different script, to cover their charge cramming.
Name is so generic BBB shows numerous companies using it.
Complaints against the phone number are consistent, but thin.
We may have to wait a bit for identity or location information to start showing up, possibly in the next month if they are cramming charges against bank accounts.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalf ... -alert/2397189/
"...
Seniors get a warning on medical alert scam
By Susan Tompor, USA TODAY 9 a.m. EDT June 9, 2013
Barbara Adams, 70, keeps getting one of those annoying robocalls that she just knows has to be a scam. The voice implies that somebody, her doctor or maybe her children, signed her up for a medical alert system.
It's all free, the recording implies.
"And everything is ready to be sent to your home," said Adams, who lives in Dearborn Heights, Mich.
Adams said she even phoned her daughter to double check, if maybe she did sign up for some service. But no, the daughter didn't pay for any medical alert system for her mother.
"I couldn't believe it. They called me again Saturday," Adams said.
The medical alert system scam is in full swing in Michigan, as well as other states including New York, Texas, Wisconsin and Kentucky. The Michigan Attorney General's Office has received about 50 complaints about this scam in the past two weeks, according to Joy Yearout, director of communications for Attorney General Bill Schuette.
The scumbaggery against seniors has reached a super-low point with this con job. Who doesn't know a senior who fears a break-in? Or a widow who wonders what would happen in a medical emergency? Why not tug at the heartstrings a little more and claim that someone cares so much about them that a loved one or medical professional even signed them up for this "free service"?
Then, of course, smack someone on a fixed income with a big bill, if they fall for the phony pitch.
The trick is that if seniors do agree to the system in some cases it can cost $35 a month or more to operate. The scam could also be a way for con artists to obtain bank or credit card information or even a Social Security number to use later in ID theft. Or a way for someone to pressure seniors into paying for other equipment or services.
Authorities said in some cases, after consumers press a button to accept the offer, they quickly receive another call asking for personal information, including credit card numbers.
"The call appears to target the elderly, disabled and diabetic," the Better Business Bureau warned in a statement. "The automated message says 'that someone has ordered a free medical alert system for you, and this call is to confirm shipping instructions."
Adams says she remembers the automated call saying something like "Press 5 for yes." Adams has gotten three or four of these calls about this "free system." She keeps hanging up.
One Plymouth retiree said his wife got the first call in March after going to an emergency room with a dislocated shoulder. When she got the first computerized call, she pressed one of the numbers to talk to a live person who then firmly insisted she had to accept shipment of the medical alert device because it was ordered for her. When she asked who ordered it, the person said he was not at the liberty to say who ordered it.
The retiree promptly hung up when the man then asked for her address. But the Plymouth couple said the calls keep coming fairly regularly.
Some computerized calls can claim they're associated with an insurance company or another well-known name. Some scams even claim that free services come through Medicare, which is not the case at all.
The Federal Trade Commission took action in March against Instant Response Systems, based on charges of violating telemarketing rules and violations of the unordered merchandise statute. Instant Response Systems is based in Brooklyn, N.Y., and also does business as Medical Alert Services. The FTC said in that case telemarketers would claim the monitoring is free but consumers would have to pay $817 to $1,602 for the service. Payment plans were supposedly dependent on a consumer's financial situation.
In many cases, the FTC said, Instant Response Systems sent letters, bogus invoices and even threatened elderly consumers who did not order the product and claimed that the consumer owed money for it. In some cases, consumers were sent medical alert pendants that they did not order. An FTC complaint is not a finding or ruling that the defendant has actually violated the law. The case will be decided by the court.
Some recorded calls are actually made to sound as if they are "live" with background noise.
Oh, yes, the scammers are clever and can make many things sound just believable enough to make someone think that the offer could possibly be real.
The BBB is telling consumers just to hang up the phone, do not press any buttons and if someone does talk to you, be sure to first ask for the company's physical address. If the representative wants your address but won't give out its own address, it's a red flag to a scam.
Contact Susan Tompor: 313-222-6823 or stompor@freepress.com
..."
Note that in this case they appear to be located in New York.
M.O. consistent with generic fraud profile above.
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2013/03/responsesystems.shtm
"...
For Release: 03/08/2013
FTC Action Halts Brooklyn Company from Using Deception, Threats, and Intimidation to Trick Elderly Consumers Into Paying for Unordered Medical Alert Devices
At the Federal Trade Commission’s request, a U.S. district court has temporarily shut down a Brooklyn, New York-based operation that the allegedly used deception, threats, and intimidation to induce elderly consumers to pay for medical alert systems they neither ordered nor wanted.
In its complaint, the FTC charges that telemarketers for Instant Response Systems call elderly consumers – many of whom are in poor health and rely on others for help with managing their finances – and try to pressure them into buying a medical alert service that consists of a pendant that supposedly allows them to get help during emergencies. In numerous instances, Instant Response Systems allegedly has falsely claimed during sales calls that consumers who did not order the medical alert service have, in fact, bought the service and owe the company money -- often hundreds of dollars.
The company also allegedly has shipped bogus invoices and unordered medical alert pendants to consumers without their consent, has repeatedly threatened consumers with legal action in order to induce and coerce payment, and has subjected them to verbal abuse. In addition, the FTC contends that Instant Response Systems has illegally made numerous unsolicited calls to consumers whose phone numbers are listed on the National Do Not Call Registry.
According to the FTC’s complaint, consumers who tried to contact the company to dispute the false charges or find out how to return unopened packages often were unable to reach anyone. If they did reach a representative, they allegedly faced threats, verbal abuse, and demands that they pay for the product.
Based on this alleged conduct, the FTC charged the company and its principals with making illegal misrepresentations to consumers, violating the Telemarketing Sales Rule by calling phone numbers on the DNC Registry, and violating the Unordered Merchandise Statute by sending consumers pendants they did not order.
The defendants charged in the case are Instant Response Systems, LLC, also doing business as Response Systems, B.B. Mercantile, Ltd., Medical Alert Industrial, and Medical Alert Services; and Jason Abraham, also known as Yaakov Abraham, individually and as an officer of Instant Response Systems. Abraham was previously sued by the FTC in 2003 for selling international “drivers’ licenses” and phony university diplomas.
..."