Genesee County Health Department has received a number of inquiries from residents about phone calls that were made using the health department’s name and phone numbers. However, these calls were not made by any of its staff.
The Genesee County Health Department never asks for personal or financial information over the phone.
The scammers are using a technique called “caller ID spoofing”. Individuals are falsely displaying the health department’s information on consumers’ caller IDs and attempting to obtain Medicare insurance information or other sensitive information from the public. They tend to use a local number or a number from a trusted business to increase the likelihood that you’ll answer the phone. In this case, they are using Genesee County’s Health Department’s phone numbers (810-742-2255 or 810-257-3612). The Health Department’s number shows up on your caller ID, but it’s really a scammer on the line.
If you receive one of these calls, simply hang up. If you get a message on your answering machine, do not return the call. Most importantly, never give out personal information over the phone, such as account numbers, Social Security numbers, your mother’s maiden name or passwords to an unsolicited caller. In addition, never give personal information when you are at all suspicious.
The health department is working closely with the county’s IT department and has been assured that no data breach has occurred. This is from an outside source and has no connection to Genesee County.
Those who wish to file a complaint can do so by visiting the Michigan Attorney General Consumer Protection Division website: https://tinyurl.com/MIAGComplaint, and clicking on “Report Illegal Robocalls”.
