This evening, I picked up the one non-caller-ID phone in the house to hear a chipper youthful male voice intrducing himself and saying he was calling to arrrange an installation appointment for my new medical alert system. I quickly said no thanks, not interested, and he just as quickly responded that I already had on on order, they just need to install it. When I said I never ordered such a thing, he said it was already paid for, and that “someone who loves me or cares about my welfare” must have placed the order for my benefit. Yeah, right.
He made it sound as though he already had all my information, but never actually used my name or any other details, and some of what he said was carefully worded to try to get me to reveal such information myself, which of course I did not. He was definitely reading from a carefully crafted script that included convincing-sounding responses to various scenarios.
I can easily picture a trusting senior citizen getting suckered into revealing personal details over the phone to someone like this, or giving out an address and then getting robbed. So I wanted to let you all know about the call because I’m sure I’m not the only person who was/will be called.
Got the same call. Hung up
Got the same call. Hung up but thanks for posting this. It’s definitely a scam.
The police and the Attorney
The police and the Attorney General’s office should be notified of this so an alert can go out in the local paper letting people know about this scam.
Did that already
FWIW,,, The only number that was on the caller ID anywhere remotely near that time was a 448, which would mean Burlington, but strangely there was no 802 in front of it, and my caller ID normally shows all 10 digits.
Might help to report to police, other authorities, too
Wow, that is aggressive telemarketing. Thanks for posting this. Did your other phones show the number, or was it blocked? Often there isn’t much that can be done, but the police and other officials maybe can help, too. If you have the time, and want to be even more proactive, you could let AARP, the area agencies on aging (Senior Solutions locally), Community of Vermont Elders (COVE, whose executive director is former Brattleboro state rep Gini Milkey), the state Department of Aging and Independent Living (DAIL) and the State Attorney General’s office know about this to help spread the word even further!
Good warning - thanks
When I had the flu a while back and was able to watch television at odd hours (meaning, uh, all day and night), I was amazed at the ads for medical and health items aimed at seniors.
There were the companies offering to send you all sorts of free products. Get a free scooter, a free diabetes kit, a free whatever. All you have to do was authorize them to file papers on your behalf with the government. They’d get paid and you’d get whatever thing they were sending out.
(The Scooter Store recently filed for bankruptcy and had federal investigators accusing them of over-billing Medicare and Medicaid by $40-$88 million over a few years.)
There were lots of “put your parents in a home” ads. I think the service was called “A Place For Mom” and they offered to help you, if you had power of attorney, to help you find an elder care facility. I saw this ad so many times I could read the small print, which said nursing home companies paid them to provide potential candidates.
There are long ads for all sorts of medications that do all sorts of wonderful things with interesting side effects.
These are followed by long ads asking if you took any of the medications advertised a while ago. If so, they were bad and you should join the lawsuit against the manufacturer.
It’s enough to make one ill.
woe is us
Years ago, when my labor and toil were being brutally exploited while a registered nurse, we were told that as we baby boomers aged we would have all these lovely social advancements to make our much extended lives easier. I thought large lettering on medication bottles and push button phones would be rather fabulous. Well, silly me. Turns out all those social advancements are market commodities and I still can’t read my damn prescription bottles (as a matter of fact, all the regulations now require more instructions, thus smaller print!) And am I the only one whose fingers are bigger than those microscopic buttons on almost all available technology that has made large push button telephones obsolete?
No wonder they have a big market for “a place for mom”. She can’t see the print on her prescription bottles or the phone to call for help.
Thanks!
I’ll bring this to the attention of some folks who can help spread the word.
National Do Not Call Registry
That “chipper youthful male voice introducing himself and saying he was calling to arrange an installation appointment for my new medical alert system” was probably a recording. They’re very good at this scam. The game is to get you to sign on to a monthly monitoring service which you have to pay for (The OMG button or pendant is free). You can tell it’s a recording when you ask a question and they go on with the spiel without answering the question.
If they use a recorded message, you can file a complaint even if you’re not on the “Do Not Call List”
The National Do Not Call Registry gives you a choice about whether to receive telemarketing calls at home. Most telemarketers should not call your number once it has been on the registry for 31 days. If they do, you can file a complaint at this Website. You can register your home or mobile phone for free https://www.donotcall.gov/
If your number has been on the National Do Not Call Registry for at least 31 days and you receive a call from a telemarketer that you believe is covered by the National Do Not Call Registry, you can file a complaint at the registry’s website at http://www.donotcall.gov or by calling the registry’s toll-free number at 1-888-382-1222 (TTY: 1-866-290-4236). YOU MAY ALSO FILE A COMPLAINT IF YOU RECEIVED A CALL THAT USED A RECORDED MESSAGE INSTEAD OF A LIVE PERSON (WHETHER OR NOT YOUR NUMBER WAS ON THE REGISTRY).
It’s always a good idea to get on the DNC list. You can always opt to allow individual companies to call you if you desire.
Thank you!
I sent an email out to our staff after reading this post so we can alert our customers. As soon as I sent it out I had replies that staff members had also received the calls. We appreciate being able to give our customers, family members, friends and others a heads up!
People never cease to amaze me..
Many reports of this as a scam
I did a search for medical alert system phone scam and got lots of hits.
It appears that at least one version of the scam is intended to get you to give up your credit card info to a “representative” after the recorded message is complete. You could then get hit with recurring monthly fees, or worse have your card numbers stolen. (Wise move by BS&L to alert customers.)
Here’s a link to a story of the scam in Wisconsin. Just change the location and it applies here, from what people are saying.
Just got a new call...on my cellphone this time
Came from a VT phone number, she asked for me by name, then identified herself as “Jennifer from Mentor Medical checking on the nebulizer, are you the person using the nebulizer in the household?” I said no one in the house uses one and she said “thank you for the feedback, we will remove your name from our list.”
Weird.
This must be a lucrative scam to produce so many calls.
I’m wondering if they are spoofing the name of the company. I did a search for Mentor Medical. It’s a worldwide company. “Founded in 1969, Mentor Worldwide LLC is a leading supplier of medical products for the global aesthetic medicine market.” Aesthetic medicine, it appears, is a new term for breast implants. Owned by Johnson & Johnson.
I don’t see anything to do with nebulizers there. Hmmm.