Possible scam?

depglass · ‎03-10-2010

A male friend got a phone call from the local hospital telling him he owed 25.00 from two years ago and they would take a credit card to clear it up. With our hospital, this wouldn't be out of the question, their billing is a mess. So friend got huffy, marched down to the billing office and found out he owed nothing. I'm thinking this was just a scam by someone to get his credit card info.

NicksmomESQ · ‎08-19-2014

Sounds like a scam.These days you have to be super careful & trust no one!!

qbetzforreal · ‎08-28-2010

Total scam. Businesses send bills for monies owed. They'll send many bills and turn it over to a collection agency who may call. Glad your friend didn't give his credit card number.

Spurt · ‎03-20-2010

@depglass wrote:
A male friend got a phone call from the local hospital telling him he owed 25.00 from two years ago and they would take a credit card to clear it up. With our hospital, this wouldn't be out of the question, their billing is a mess. So friend got huffy, marched down to the billing office and found out he owed nothing. I'm thinking this was just a scam by someone to get his credit card info.

@depglass

Whenever you or anyone gets a call like this ...tell them you cant talk right now, then hang up and go to the secure website, find a phone number there, call them and verify if the info is correct!

Even if they they calling from a reputable company or a charity NEVER give credit card or ANY personal info to anyone calling YOU!!!--It could be a scam and these scammers are getting more and more clever!!! Dont trust anyone!

Animals are reliable, full of love, true in their affections, grateful. Difficult standards for people to live up to.”

PhilaLady1 · ‎03-11-2010

You are exactly correct - a SCAM ! What they do is, they start with a low amount. Its not like they are saying pay up thousands of dollars asap. The scammer is hoping that you would be more likely to fork up $25.00 than a larger amount. Once they get your personal information, though, you would be in big trouble.

Nightowlz · ‎03-11-2010

Never give out any of your personal information over the phone when someone calls you. You need to hang up & call the place back direct yourself.

All this guy had to do was hang up to call the hospital to find out if he had any outstanding bills.

If he did owe bills that were 2 yrs old it would not have been the hospital calling. They would have already turned it over to collections.

Trix · ‎03-16-2010

@Nightowlz wrote:
Never give out any of your personal information over the phone when someone calls you. You need to hang up & call the place back direct yourself.
All this guy had to do was hang up to call the hospital to find out if he had any outstanding bills.
If he did owe bills that were 2 yrs old it would not have been the hospital calling. They would have already turned it over to collections.

@NightowlzEven if the call is from a collection agency stating they are representing a business (hospital or other) one has owed money to; or presently owes money to, it's not recommended to pay by phone. I would hang up on anyone calling me and asking me to pay a bill by phone.

A hospital can verify whether or not there is indeed any remaining balance on an old bill and that it has been sent to collections, but even with that info I still would not send money to the collections agency. Between insurance payments, co-payments, etc. it's not uncommon for folks to lose track of a few dollars which may remain on a hospital bill. I would apologize to the hospital billing department for the oversight and send the payment directly to the hospital, leaving it to them to halt to their third party collector from making any further contact with me.

Carmie · ‎10-25-2010

I mentioned this scam a few months ago. In my area, some thieves are so bold as to have even sent out authentic looking bills with the hospitals name and even included a return envelope. When you call the CS number shown to question the bill, someone answers and tells you you can pay by cc and takes your info.

Our local news station showed a copy of the bill somone got. It was really authentic looking. I wonder how many people got scammed.

chrystaltree · ‎05-10-2010

Sounds like a scam. Two years is a long time to try to collect $25, even if it was true,most hospitals would just write it off becaue it costs more them more than $25 to try to collect $25.

Nightowlz · ‎03-11-2010

@Trix wrote:
@Nightowlz wrote:
Never give out any of your personal information over the phone when someone calls you. You need to hang up & call the place back direct yourself.
All this guy had to do was hang up to call the hospital to find out if he had any outstanding bills.
If he did owe bills that were 2 yrs old it would not have been the hospital calling. They would have already turned it over to collections.

@NightowlzEven if the call is from a collection agency stating they are representing a business (hospital or other) one has owed money to; or presently owes money to, it's not recommended to pay by phone. I would hang up on anyone calling me and asking me to pay a bill by phone.

A hospital can verify whether or not there is indeed any remaining balance on an old bill and that it has been sent to collections, but even with that info I still would not send money to the collections agency. Between insurance payments, co-payments, etc. it's not uncommon for folks to lose track of a few dollars which may remain on a hospital bill. I would apologize to the hospital billing department for the oversight and send the payment directly to the hospital, leaving it to them to halt to their third party collector from making any further contact with me.

@Trix

I really don't know how any of it works since I have never been turned over for collections.

I know how much money I owe & to who. I don't have any debt so it's easy to keep track of. Would not do anybody any good to call me & say I owe them money. LOL!!!

I only give my credit card info to someone I'm calling but never to anyone that calls me. I'm no dummy.