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Heartwings Love Notes 988 - Beware the 'Free' Offer

Heartwings says, "Those who would catch you, bait the hook well."

The phone rang. Stephen picked it up, expecting another of the spam calls we had been getting all morning. Instead, the voice on the phone said, "this is Orthopedic Services and we have been authorized by Medicare to offer you a free back brace." Sounds good, right? Free back brace? The male voice, with a foreign accent, went on to ask relevant questions. Caught by surprise, Stephen stayed on the telephone, answering questions about his height, weight, waist circumference and other information. Medicare, he was told, would pay.

I was preparing lunch and listening with half an ear. The person on the phone sounded legitimate. When he asked Stephen for the name of our doctor, I began to wonder. Why didn't the person already have that? Stephen said he thought I might be able to use a brace so he gave me the phone. I did. I had my doubts, however the thought of some help for back support sounded tempting.

Long story short, as they say, we began to realize it really was a scam and not a legitimate offer. Stephen told him how we both felt and said we wanted to cancel the whole thing. He retorted, saying there was a $2,000 cancellation fee. Stephen spoke a few well-chosen words and hung up. We called our Primary and she confirmed that she had ordered no such thing. She also recommended we refuse to accept any package arriving in the mail from an unknown sender.

We consider ourselves to be pretty scam proof; even so, we were taken in. While it was a blow to our pride, it was also a wakeup call. The scammers out there are getting cleverer by the day. The first thing to be learned here might be beware the word FREE. That is an easy hook for anyone to dangle. It's only human to want something for nothing. Who wouldn't? And most of the time what you get for nothing is exactly that.

Something else to be learned is to question the source. When someone says they are from Medicare, it might sound legitimate, and it could even be legitimate, or it could be just another hook baited to catch the unwary. Many are out there, trolling with delicious appearing bait. We put in a call to the police station to report it and then called Medicare. The person we spoke to was glad to hear and said he hadn't encountered the cancellation fee charge before.

I intend to try to publicize this scam. There are consumer advocates connected with TV stations and I'm going to send them this information. An unwary person could get sadly hurt either financially, emotionally or both. Scammers prey on people who are innocently taken in by "free," Medicare, and other fine sounding words and promises that will come to nothing. It is said Caveat Emptor—let the buyer beware. There needs to be a codicil: beware the word free, one seldom gets something for nothing.

May you never fall for any schemes that do you harm.

Hopefully you haven't had any such experiences, dear readers, yet if you have would you share with me? I'd love to sympathize. Write me at tashahal@aol.comand, and do visit my web pages at heartwingsandfriends.com for other love notes to read..

 

I love to hear from readers and would be honored if you would comment and let me know any suggestions or thoughts. If a friend sent you this, you can sign up at my web site, www.heartwingslovenotes.com, where more love notes can be found in the archives.

Blessings and Best Regards,
Tasha Halpert
 

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