Pasadena Warned Of Scammers Posing As Public Health Officials

PASADENA, CA — Officials in Pasadena Wednesday warned community members to be wary of scammers posing as public health officials to obtain sensitive personal and financial information.

Although there have been no reports of such fraudulent activity in the city, Pasadena public health officials issued the warning Wednesday because numerous such reports have been made to the California Department of Public Health.

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"We want to make Pasadena residents aware of scams involving individuals impersonating public health officials to obtain personal information," Public Health Director Manuel Carmona said. "We encourage everyone to remain vigilant about phone and online scams."

The scams are typical across the United States and while the CDPH and PPHD "may reach out to individuals for legitimate public health purposes, such as disease contact tracing, these calls will never involve requests for Social Security numbers, credit card information or data not related to your health," officials said.

Some scammers have claimed a prescription was filled in the victim's name while seeking so-called verifying information.

"In some cases, scammers have escalated the ruse by transferring victims to a video call with an individual impersonating a police officer or other authority figure in a fake uniform and fabricated recording room," according to the PPHD release, which said the schemes sometimes involve coordinated callers who reinforce the ruse.

Urgency and threats are tools commonly used in such scams, which include warnings of legal consequences or canceled prescriptions.

Anyone who receives such a suspicious call should hang up immediately and contact the CDPH at 916-558-1784, and anyone in Pasadena who believes they have been the victim of fraud should contact the Pasadena Police Department at 626-744-4241.

Incidents should also be reported to the Federal Trade Commission at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

City News Service