Genesis Health System Warns Patients of Possible Scam

Many of us in the Quad Cities may have at one time or another used Genesis Health Systems for some of our healthcare needs. So it's not a surprise scammers are using the Genesis Health System name when trolling for your Social Security number by sending you an e-mail or calling you saying your medical records have been lost and that they need your Social Security number to restore them.

According to WQAD this is a common scam across the country. Genesis officials are telling patients to ignore any e-mail or phone calls to ignore the messages and requests. If you receive any of these messages you should not give out any of your personal information. Genesis Health also wants patients to know they are not making these calls.

The Federal Trade Commission provides the following advice to avoid falling for a scam like the one going around:

• Many scammers pretend to be someone you trust. Like the government, a company you do business with, or a charity. Don't send money or give personal information in response to an unexpected request by phone, e-mail or text.
• Do online searches. Type a company name into a search engine with words like "review" "scam" or "complaint". You can also search for a phrase that describes your situation. You can even search phone numbers to see if others have reported that number as a scam.
• Don't believe your caller ID. Technology makes it easy for scammers to fake caller ID information. You can always hang up on the caller and call the company back if you think the request was legitimate.

More advice to keep from falling for a scam is available from the Federal Trade Commission here.