Phone scammers pose as health officials

The Ohio Department of Health is warning of phone scammers who represent themselves as health officials in an apparent attempt to steal people’s identities.

The department’s vital statistics line received over 100 messages from Ohioans complaining of the calls, said Department of Health spokeswoman Melanie Amato.

“We got a ton of them over the weekend,” she said.

The callers are using a caller-ID spoofing technology to make it appear as if the call is coming from the Department of Health, a local health department or some other health authority. To further the illusion that the calls are legitimate, the callers recite some personal information about the people they’re calling, such as name or birthdate or their doctors’ addresses.

The imposters “are asking for personal information that the department would never seek over the phone,” the Department of Health said in a statement.

Some of that information can be used for fraudulent purposes such as opening credit card accounts and making online purchases.

The department doesn’t know who is making the phony calls.

It reminds Ohioans not to give out information such as Social Security numbers, mother’s maiden name or passwords if they are suspicious.

If you believe you’re the victim of an attempted scam, file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission.