Insurance Agents Being Scammed - Alert!!

[ScottHCO]

Please read... This is very real and can be quite devastating if it happens to you. Never give your credit card number or social security number to someone who calls you…no matter what! Legit entities will never call you asking for this information.

Scott

The following alert was sent last week by:

Ted Strickland, Governor Mary Jo Hudson, Director
[FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]50 West Town Street Third Floor – Suite 300 Columbus, OH 43215 (614) 644-2658 www.insurance.ohio.gov [/FONT][/FONT]​

[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]June 16, 2009 [/FONT][/FONT]​

[FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri]Re: Agent Alert: Insurance Scam Targeting Agents [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Calibri,Calibri]​

[FONT=Calibri,Calibri]Dear Insurance Professional: [/FONT]​

[FONT=Calibri,Calibri]Insurance agents and brokers in Nevada, California and Colorado have found themselves the target of a scam recently. According to information released, individuals posing as Department of Insurance (DOI) employees are contacting agents and brokers by telephone, and are informing them that their license may be cancelled as the result of outstanding fees / penalties. They are then told that by providing their credit card and social security numbers, the matter can be resolved over the telephone. [/FONT]

[FONT=Calibri,Calibri]The Insurance Commissioners of all states are warning agents and brokers that these individuals are not employees of the DOI and are attempting to scam insurance agencies for financial gain. It is not the policy, practice or procedure for the DOI’s to request credit card or social security information over the telephone, with regards to a payment. [/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri,Calibri]Trends such as this tend to travel from state to state, and the Ohio Department of Commerce has received similar complaints from individuals licensed by their organization this past spring. For this reason, the Ohio Department of Insurance wants to be proactive in warning Ohio’s insurance agents of the identified trend. [/FONT]

[FONT=Calibri,Calibri]If an Ohio insurance agent receives a telephone call similar in nature, they are advised not to provide the caller with any personal information as the Ohio Department of Insurance generates written notification to all agents about fees owed, and would never contact an agent by telephone. They should also contact the Department’s Fraud & Enforcement Division, at [/FONT][FONT=Calibri,Calibri]1[/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri]‐[/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri]800[/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri]‐[/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri]686[/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri]‐[/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Calibri,Calibri][FONT=Calibri,Calibri]1527, who will work with law enforcement officials to investigate the matter further. [/FONT]

[FONT=Calibri,Calibri]Best Regards, [/FONT]

[FONT=Calibri,Calibri]Mary Jo Hudson Director [/FONT]​

[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]Accredited by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]Consumer Hotline: [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]1-800-686-1526 [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]Fraud Hotline: [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]1-800-686-1527 [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]OSHIIP Hotline: [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]1-800-686-1578 [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]TDD Line: [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman](614) 644-3745 (Printed in house) [/FONT]
[/FONT]

 

[Cornelius]

This is a reason I have Identity Theft coverage from Pre-Paid Legal along with a Legal Plan. Daily monitoring and if anything crazy comes up I have access to an Attorney with the legal plan plus the restoration benefit from the ID Plan. Yes I do market the plans also.

 

[moonlightandmargaritas]

Didn't somebody from California post this info a couple of weeks ago?

 

[arnguy]

Yes!

 

[foxmarble]

Yep I recieved this same message from my DOI here not long ago.

 

[Cornelius]

It's not just Insurance agents who should be on the look out, it's everyone. Take a look at this. Scroll to the bottom..
A Chronology of Data Breaches

 

[jamesflou]

None of us here are stupid enough to fall for a scam are we? I am sure we are smarter than that!

 

[Texas Insurance Dude]

I mean really. Everywhere you look there is a scam like this going on. Surely we know not to give our personal info out to anyone calling or contacting us? Right?

 

[Norwayguy]

None of us here are stupid enough to fall for a scam are we? I am sure we are smarter than that!

You would think we are smart enough to avoid these types of scams but you never know...I recieved an email from a client telling me she had taken a trip and needed money to be sent to her from her account. I could have generated the transaction but I would never do something like that by email without confirmation and when I called her at home she answered and someone had hacked her email account and was sending these messages out to her address book.

 

[Texas Insurance Dude]

Thats nuts... And these scams are only going to get more common and more sophisticated with time. We all will have to double check everthing that involves our personal information moving forward. It really is a shame...