Oh no She Didn't!!

Wow. I think maybe someone just attempted to run an old-school phone scam on me today!

Got a call from a woman purporting to be calling from the billing department of a medical center whose services I have recently utilized; she said that "(she'd) been trying to run my CC for over a week in order to charge my copay...but it just kept being rejected. She then quoted me a figure for this ostensible copay, (which my CC could definitely cover) and began to rattle off numbers that she claimed had been given to her as my CC#, so that I could "verify" them. (Yeah, I know, right?)

I asked the DH if he'd received any previous calls (since this problem had, purportedly, been going on for a week...) and he had not. Nor have we received any paper bills...aaaand here's the kicker; neither my DH nor I have any memory of presenting a CC at the time, period. Hmmmm...

So I politely interrupted the soi disant accountrix and asked for a number with which I could call her back, and she gave me one with a local area code and prefix. I checked it against the med center's online directory, and whilst the prefix fits, that particular number is not listed.

DOUBLE Hmmmmmm...

In any case, I'll be calling the (officially listed) billing department at the med center to see if they actually have been attempting to charge me for a week without calling or notifying me. If they have been, well...all I can say is that they need to train their employees to deliver a story which sounds less shifty. And, if not...*whew!*

I will post update/s as to how this works out, but mostly I just wanted to warn folks: DO NOT GIVE YOUR CC# AND/OR IMPORTANT INFO OUT TO RANDOM CALLERS...NO MATTER HOW PRESSING THEY TELL YOU THE NEED IS!!!

Always, ALWAYS ask for a number you can reach THEM at, and check them out/verify their identity thoroughly before spilling even an iota of personal/confidential info!!

Be your own Tiger Team, so to speak...because you can't trust anyone else to do it for you!