HE SPEAKS WITH A STRONG, authoritative voice about life-threatening situations in which you may be unable to summon help.
For a moment, albeit brief, I almost believe him, that the American Heart Association in conjunction with the American Diabetes Association is offering free medical emergency alert equipment to me if only I’ll press “1” on my phone for more information.
But I am smart enough to realize a scam when I hear one. Yet, I can understand, as the recorded message continues, how a vulnerable senior citizen could fall victim to this fraud.
“You’ll never have to feel worried or helpless again,” the convincing voice reassures me.
But be assured, this is a scam, an attempt to defraud consumers, according to a representative I spoke with this afternoon at the American Heart Association.
I asked whether the AHA had issued/would be issuing a news release to warn the public as I’d be happy to share that information on this blog. Not at this time, she said, because the same scam circulated several months ago and had been reported to the FBI. The rep suggested I call local law enforcement. I already had.
Last week I reported the potential scam to the Faribault Police Department. But because I had not been defrauded, I was told the matter would not be investigated and that the call could, indeed, be legitimate.
OK then, are you serious? I emphasized that I was convinced the offer was bogus. That mattered not. I thought I was doing the right thing by alerting police before any local residents became crime victims.
Today, after receiving the same phone call trying to convince me I needed this free medical emergency alert device, I did my own investigating by calling the American Heart Association then following up with a call to the Rice County Attorney’s Office. I am awaiting a return call.
In the meantime, if your phone rings and the caller offers you free medical emergency alert equipment and assures you that “You’ll never have to feel worried or helpless again,” don’t believe it.
Your worries will have just begun.
© Copyright 2012 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
It is frustrating, isn’t it??? Until a body gets royally swindled absolutely nothing will be done and no follow-up will happen. And how long would it take an officer to call the organization (as you did)???? Hard to remain calm in all this!
I didn’t even get as far as an officer when I called the FPD. It was frustrating. In the past I’ve seen articles in the local paper alerting people to scams and this is what I was hoping for. Perhaps I will get results from the county attorney’s office.
As you know, you did the right thing! I hope you get some positive results (or SOME results!!!!!).
This is my job on a daily basis. Contact your county DA or the State AG’s Office – may even want to see if you have a local community or senior center to alert. Good Luck!
Thanks for the suggestions. I contacted our county attorney yesterday and am awaiting a call back. I thought I’d start there, locally, before calling the state attorney general’s office, which was also on my mental list of possible places to contact. I also considered alerting the senior center, but have not done that. Again, I thought perhaps the county attorney’s office could best handle this and perhaps even write a news release for the local daily newspaper. I’ve seen such scam alerts published previously.