Beware of Scam Phone Calls and Emails Disguised as Vendors

September 5, 2017

The Fund Office has recently received some reports of scammers calling and/or emailing members pretending to be vendors such as BlueCross BlueShield. In these phone calls or emails, the scammers have attempted to extract personal information from members by asking questions that are allegedly related to their coverage. They often will claim that members must answer particular questions in order to confirm account information, or receive proper coverage, among other reasons. The purpose of this article is to advise you NOT to provide this information under any circumstances unless you are absolutely certain you are speaking to a representative of the particular vendor he/she claims to be calling or emailing from.

If you suspect a phone call or email may potentially be a scammer, you should do the following:

• DO NOT provide any information.
• Hang up the phone or delete the email immediately.
• Verify the person/company that contacted you by calling or emailing an official phone number or email address (DO NOT call back or email the phone number/email you originally were contacted from).
• Inquire as to whether or not the vendor really needs the information that was requested. If so, you can then provide it. If not, you can report the attempted scam to your local police department or the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) at www.ftc.gov.

If you have any questions related to your Empire BlueCross BlueShield (“Empire”) coverage, you can contact Empire’s Customer Service Department at (844) 416-6387, or our Member Services Department at (800) 529-FUND (3863).