My 87-year-old mother on hospice with pancreatic cancer in Louisiana received a mailing at the end of May containing a welcome letter and extremely generic brochure to something called the American Savings Club. Alarmed she may have been scammed, we checked her bank statement to find out $448.74 was deducted from her checking account by counter check on May 18. Apparently she was called on about May 4. She does not recall speaking with these folks, but later recalled someone may have called about her Medicare coverage.
We called the 866 number on the counter check and after waiting 20 minutes, the call was answered by what they said was a 3rd party answering service, who said the charges were from a company called Secure Med Group. When we advised that the charges were unauthorized and the victim is dying, they said they would process a refund within 10 days.
We also went to her bank and they said to immediately close the account to prevent further withdrawals, and that they would advise the processing bank that this was an unauthorized charge and to return funds.
Neither has happened to date. A complaint has also been filed with the BBB and Louisiana Office of Consumer Protection.
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