Day: January 6, 2019

Alert: Beware of Medical Supply Phone Fraud

~ Ann Corcoran ~ 3 Comments

Have you been getting calls that start with a recorded voice saying “Don’t hang up!”? The caller says he/she has important information about relieving chronic pain with neck, back or knee braces (that Medicare will pay for).
scam alert logo
I get those and so I noticed this news story from Fruitland, Maryland ten days ago about how phone scammers clone a number (in this case they cloned the police department!) and use it to make their fraud calls.
Then I found a letter to the editor from a man in Wilson, NC who, although suspicious of the call, did talk with the ‘supplier’ of braces, and here is what he said,

I have received dozens of calls concerning braces for pain in my back, shoulders, etc., none of which is true! On those calls where I actually talked to the callers, I told them exactly that and apparently I was ignored. They told me it will cost me absolutely nothing and Medicare will pay for everything. I again told them no, I don’t need them, nor do I want them. They told me they would send them anyway and they would be absolutely free and Medicare would pay.
Guess what? On a recent Thursday, a package arrived from Trilogy Medical Supply of West Palm Beach, Florida. I refused acceptance and UPS took the unopened package back. Now the fun part!
I called Medicare and after speaking to three individuals, was told that this company had indeed billed Medicare more than $3,400 for something I neither wanted nor asked for and in fact refused. Medicare has opened an investigation into this and will refuse payment for my “pain relief braces!”

So, it appears that the feds were promptly paying out to Trilogy Medical Supply.* It is not clear if the letter-writer gave out his Medicare card number to the callers.
Check your Medicare statements when they come in and look for items you were billed for.  One friend of mine said there were amounts of certain medications (for pain!) that were larger than she had received.
Yesterday a Better Business Bureau in Ohio published a list of the Top Seven phone fraud schemes they had been notified about in 2018.
See them all but especially #2:  The Grandparents Scam!
Another of my friends reported that an elder family member fell for this one and actually drove out late at night to wire cash to the unknown caller!

question mark*We have no idea who owns Trilogy Medical Supply (could be perfectly legit).  But, as soon as the Department of Justice website is up and running again (after the shutdown), I’ll check if they show up there.

 

 

California: Thousands of Mourners See Police Officer Ronil Singh Laid to Rest

~ Ann Corcoran ~ 3 Comments

This is one of the better stories I’ve read on the funeral for a man, an immigrant who gave everything for America, who should be alive today.  Instead some Mexican low-life who allegedly entered the US illegally is still breathing.
 

singh funeral 2
Singh’s dog Sam says good-bye

 
From the Modesto Bee (emphasis is mine):

CrossPoint Community Church overflowed with mourners. The main Worship Hall was standing-room only, reserved for uniformed law enforcement and family members.
Three additional viewing areas inside the church for the general public also were packed and in Newman a livestream viewing was held at Orestimba High School.
[….]
The funeral for the 33-year-old Singh, who was shot and killed while performing a traffic stop in the early hours of Dec. 26, drew some 4,000 people and officers from more than 100 agencies up-and-down the state, as far away as New York and Massachusetts and even two members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
[….]
The family immigrated to the United States in 2003, and he worked his way up working various positions at local law enforcement agencies including the Modesto Police and Turlock Police departments and the Merced County Sheriff’s Department. Then in 2011 he achieved his dream of becoming a police officer when he was hired by the Newman Police Department. He was promoted to become a K9 officer in 2013 and the rank of corporal in 2016.
[….]
Aside from the speakers’ voices, the quiet hall was interrupted only by laughter at Singh’s jokester antics and the occasional burbling sounds of Singh’s five-month-old son, Arnav, who sat in the front row held by with his widow, Anamika Chand-Singh.
[….]
About 2,000 law enforcement representatives took part. Modesto Police Department spokesman Billy Boyle said he had never seen as large a combined police and public turnout as at the funeral service, and that it spoke to the close relationship local law enforcement has with the community.

 
And, it spoke to the public’s universal outrage at the monstrous unfairness of it —that an illegal alien creep who shouldn’t have been in the country in the first place allegedly took Singh’s life.
Read more at the Modesto Bee.

Donate to the family through the police department

There is no official GoFundMe account for the family.  The Stanislaus County PD makes it clear on their facebook page that there is only one legitimate fundraising effort on-going for the family.

Please be aware there are NO other approved or authorized memorial fund or online fundraising accounts that will be established.

Click here to see how you can donate.
 

question markMichelle Malkin wants to know why the Democrats are silent, especially California Democrat women!  And, it seems to me that the Rs should be talking about Corporal Ronil Singh every day as the wall debate continues.  Indeed his death could save thousands in the future if the US finally controls the southern border!