Franciscan Companies issues scam warning

DeWITT  —  Franciscan Companies is warning that one of its medical-alert services is being impersonated by a company carrying out a scam targeting seniors.

A company referring to itself as Senior Alertline is portraying itself as Philips Lifeline, according to a Franciscan Companies news release. Franciscan Companies offers the medical-alert service Philips Lifeline.

The impersonating company is using telephone calls to try to gain access to credit-card information. It is promising free gifts, inexpensive services, and free equipment, according to Franciscan Companies.

“Seniors are vulnerable to these types of scams; they tend to be more trusting,” Franciscan Lifeline Executive Director Beverly Lawton said. “We encourage all customers to verify the name of the person who is calling, the company, and then call them back using a number you already have, not the one they provide to you.”

For a time, the impersonating company also had a website copying the Philips Lifeline site, Franciscan Companies said.

“This appears to be a fast-moving outfit, as they have already changed their website and they are now copying another provider’s website,” Philips Lifeline Senior Director of Healthcare Mark Rutherford said.

Franciscan Companies is contacting customers about the scam and encouraging them to avoid giving credit card information to anyone they do not know.

DeWitt–based Franciscan Companies is a member of the St. Joseph’s Hospital Health Center network that provides health-related services in a 17-county area in New York and Pennsylvania.

Contact Seltzer at rseltzer@cnybj.com