Scammers target retirement villages

Retirement village residents are being warned of a scam in which strangers knock on doors requesting to check the resident’s medication.

The door-knockers claim to be from the local DHB, and ask to inspect all medication stored in the resident’s unit.

Reports have so far been made in retirement villages in Hamilton and Matamata, but the Retirement Villages Association suspects the practice is spreading to other areas.

It has also heard of scammers calling residents by phone to discuss their medication, asking what kinds of medication they have in their unit and requesting a time to visit.

Pohlen Hospital in Matamata has been targeted by the scam.

In a Facebook post, the hospital said scammers asked residents for old medication and then took the medication away if it had expired.

‘‘Do not allow these people into your home or give them any medication, expired or otherwise,’’ they said. The association believes the scam is an attempt to access pharmaceuticals that may be close to or past their use-by date.

The Waikato DHB has advised that door-knocking is not a practice of theirs, and if a resident is approached, they should refuse entry and call the police.

CFFC’s Fraud Education Manager Bronwyn Groot said that if anyone receives a door-knock, they should ask for proof of identity and then ask the person to come back later after you have called the organisation the person claims to represent to check if they are legitimate.