How to Avoid Becoming a Victim – Fraudulent Phone Calls

The Information Technology (IT) Department has become aware that some Bayhealth patients are receiving fraudulent phone calls from would-be scammers. Thankfully, the recipients of these calls realized that the caller was fraudulent, and our patients ended the call. These patients reported the calls to the Bayhealth practice in which they were last seen.
In some instances, the fraudulent caller alleged that the patient’s insurance was going to lapse. In other instances, the caller tried to convince the patient that they needed to purchase medical equipment and medical supplies.

Here are some simple tips that you use to keep yourself safe and avoid becoming a victim.

• Be suspicious of unsolicited phone calls, visits, or email messages from individuals asking about employees or other internal information. If an unknown individual claims to be from a legitimate organization, try to verify his or her identity directly with the company.
• Do not provide personal information or information about your organization, including its structure or networks, unless you are certain of a person's authority to have the information.
• Do not reveal personal or financial information in email, and do not respond to email solicitations for this information. This includes following links sent in email.
• If you are unsure whether an email request is legitimate, try to verify it by contacting the company directly. Do not use contact information provided on a website connected to the request; instead, check previous statements for contact information.

If you think that you may have already become a victim, here are some steps to use to protect yourself.

• If you believe your financial accounts may be compromised, contact your financial institution immediately and close any accounts that may have been compromised. Watch for any unexplainable charges to your account.
• Immediately change any passwords you might have revealed. If you used the same password for multiple resources, make sure to change it for each account, and do not use that password in the future.
• Consider reporting the attack to the police and file a report with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
• Also consider filing a report with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Other resources and tools:
Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)
https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/news/avoiding-social-engineering-and-phishing-attacks