Health care con artists are back again, this time targeting individuals looking for affordable health insurance with Blue Cross Blue Shield.
The Con: People are calling, acting as if they are Blue Cross Blue Shield agents, offering low premiums for great coverage.
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“It’s a shame, it’s a shame,” says Marvin Dorsey, a BCBS customer, about the scammers.
Dorsey says he can sympathize with scam victims who were tricked into paying for coverage they never received.
“I was desperate. I had just lost my job, looking for coverage, and I probably would have got caught up in it,” says Dorsey.
The scam targets people, just like Dorsey.
The caller lures victims with an offer of a low premium, then takes private information, and credit card numbers, and no insurance card ever arrives.
“It’s an easy scam because people are looking for solutions to their health problems, so it’s probably one of the easiest scams you could get involved in,” says Mark Eoute, Vice President of Kendall and Associates.
Eoute, an insurance expert, says the real BCBS is the only provider under the affordable care act in South Carolina, which makes people here more vulnerable.
Attorney Generals in other states warn investigators with BCBS believe the scam is connected to quote “Simple Health,” an entity based out of Florida.
“They have a website, and everything looks legitimate. They have people placing phone calls. They know all of the things to say, that a normal agent would say, so it’s easy to be deceived,” says Euote.
If you get a call from an agent who says, you need to pay upfront, you should know, BCBS does not mandate that.
You should request your bill instead.
The scammers even listed a bogus local address, so a visit a local agent to be safe.
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Original article published on wspa.com.
