Genesee County Health Department Warns of Phone Scams

The only good thing that I've noticed while we've been dealing with the coronavirus pandemic is the fewer number of phone scams I've been getting. Prior to the pandemic, my phone was blowing up all the time from toolbags trying to pull one over on me. Over the last couple of months, I've rarely gotten a scammer call, but that's not necessarily the case for everyone.

The Genesee County Health Department says residents are getting calls from what looks like the Health Department's name and phone numbers. The Health Department says the calls were not made by them and they never ask for personal information over the phone. That should always be your first clue that it's a total bs call.

According to Mid-Michigan Now, The scammers are using a technique called “caller ID spoofing” where they falsely display the Health Department's information on consumers' caller IDs and attempt to obtain Medicare insurance information or other sensitive information from the public.

So here's what these low life scammers are doing:  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.

I freaking hate phone scams or any kind of scam that tries to take advantage of the naive. People fall for this kind of crap all the time. Just remember, NEVER give out your personal or financial information to anyone over the phone or through an email.

The weirdest phone scam is when the scammer calls you but your number shows on the caller ID. That always trips me out.