Scam Phone Calls – Further Update

We have been made aware of an incident within the Cheshire & Merseyside region whereby a patient appeared to be receiving a phone call from their surgery but it was actually a scam/phishing call trying to obtain both personal and financial information. A process called number spoofing was used to display the surgery phone number on the patient’s telephone.

Please be aware that we will never ask for financial details over the telephone – we are not allowed to do that as all calls are recorded.

If you are suspicious of a call from us, feel free to tell us that you wish to terminate the call and phone us back.  You may wish to make a quick call to another number in the meantime to ensure that your line has been cleared and you are not still connected to the previous caller.

We have also been informed of a person pretending to be a Practice Manager telephoning patients asking for donations to the NHS.  No Practice would ever do this.

This week we have received notification from a local GP practice that one of their patients has received a phone call from someone masquerading as a medical professional associated with their practice.
They alleged they were a “senior health advisor” who worked alongside the practice in question.
The caller engaged the patient initially by asking about their medical problems, both old and ongoing.
Once a rapport had been established, the caller then offered them some medication which they could try at a cost, then proceeded to ask for bank details to proceed with payment.
The number of the caller was 01900 516 559, a number that has been previously associated with fraudsters for vehicle accident insurance call scams.