Clearwater, Fla.
Most people active on the Internet have seen the spammed e-mails
about a Nigerian prince promising rich reward in exchange for a
relatively small payment mailed to a mysterious overseas address.
These so-called “419 scams,” named after the penal code
prohibiting them in Nigeria, have traditionally preyed on
individuals. But now, 419 scammers have begun preying on businesses
of all types — including HME providers. And instead of using
the Internet, scammers are using TTY lines for the hearing
impaired, which makes their calls untraceable.
“[One caller using a TTY line] wanted to purchase all of
our blood pressure monitors,” said Sandy Jones, owner of
Austin Respiratory in Clearwater, adding that the caller said the
monitors were needed right away. In late June, Austin sold the
caller all the monitors she had, charged the caller's credit card
for $600 and, after signing a $300 UPS bill, sent a large package
overnight to Africa. She had sold equipment to immigrants before
who sent products overseas, she said, so why should this be any
different?
Shortly after, the bank that issued the credit card alerted
Jones that she had been a victim of fraud and, because the criminal
was at large overseas, her company would have to pay back the bank.
According to authorities, the blood pressure monitors Jones sent
off are now most likely being sold on the Nigerian black
market.
“These poor vendors are trying to make a living,”
said John Joyce, special agent in charge of the Secret Service's
Tampa bureau, “and they're getting beaten by this
scam.” Extremely large orders, often for a vendor's entire
stock of a particular product, should send up warning flags, he
said, adding that the scammers frequently say they need the entire
order shipped overnight, often to Nigeria. “It's a huge
problem in the U.S., [and it's an] international
problem.”
For breaking news, go to www.homecaremonday.com, the electronic news service
of the home medical equipment industry.
