Trading Standards - Medical Alarm Scams

26th September 2024

There has been a significant increase this year in phone scams related to medical emergency panic buttons, wristbands or pendants.

According to data from trueCall, over 900 scam calls about medical alarms have been reported by Scottish consumers in the last two months alone.

Scammers often claim that they work for the NHS or a local health team and may have details about the person they are phoning, such as their name and age.

In some cases, scammers have targeted those who use a telecare community alarm. The caller claims to be from the local council or a company selling personal alarm packages and tells the person that their current alarm is obsolete and needs to be replaced or upgraded. The person is encouraged to act quickly to ensure the alarm stays active and to provide their personal and payment details over the phone.

Other cold callers tell people they are entitled to receive a 'free' medical alarm. Although the device they are offering is supposedly free, they ask for card details to cover the installation fee or ongoing subscription costs.

One woman in her 80s was cold called by a company offering a discount on medical emergency pendants. She agreed to purchase one as she had previously fallen in her house.
A couple of weeks later, her neighbour found her lying on her front lawn at 5.30am with a concussion. They pressed the alarm several times but could not get a response.

Once the woman had recovered, her family contacted the company who had supplied the medical pendant to ask if there had been any alerts from her pendant. They said there had been a couple of 'false alerts' on the night she fell and promised to supply recordings of the conversations held. After delaying for a few days, they eventually told the family that, due to 'software issues', no recordings were available. They then cut off all contact with the family.

Had this happened during the colder months, the woman may not have survived a night spent outside.

How to Avoid
The best way to prevent medical alarm scams is to make sure that as many people as possible are aware of them. Please share this information with older relatives or friends.

Rather than dealing with cold callers selling medical alarms, find reputable companies who sell medical, assisted living and mobility aids via www.livingmadeeasy.org.uk or www.bhta.com/new-member-listing

If you are worried about an older relative receiving cold calls, you can sign them up to the Telephone Preference Service for free by calling 034 070 0707 or online at www.tpsonline.org.uk.
Many home phone providers offer services (some of which are free) to block unwanted calls.
There is also a range of standalone devices that can be used to block/ monitor calls such as trueCall Secure call blockers.

NHS Scotland state that they will never call to ask for patients' bank account details, credit or debit card information, or for payment to cover services. Anyone who says they are from the NHS and asks for bank details or money transfers over the phone is lying.
Never provide any personal or financial details to a cold caller, even if they already appear to have some of your information.

Contact your bank immediately if you think you may have given your account details to a scammer.

Find out More
Living Made Easy (impartial advice and information website about daily living equipment, and other aspects of independent living): https://livingmadeeasy.org.uk/
Age Scotland: https://www.agescotland.org.uk/
British Healthcare Trades Association (consumer protection body): www.bhta.com/new-member-listing
General advice on avoiding phone scams (PDF): www.tsscot.co.uk/Phone-Scam-Information.pdf