Sun, Jul 05 2009
|
Published May 17, 2008 06:25 pm - Local hospice warns of possible scam By Patrick McCreless PATRICKM@CULLMANTIMES.COM
A woman impersonating a hospice worker recently scammed several Marshall County residents out of their money and the Hospice of Cullman County wants to ensure the same thing does not happen here. “Marshall County is not too far away for somebody to come here and try that,” said Kendra Williams, marketing and PR secretary for Hospice of Cullman County. Williams said a Hospice of Cullman County board member found out about the scam after reading about it in a Marshall County newspaper. Williams said the woman, who is described as being thin with blonde hair and approximately 5 feet 8 inches tall, went from door to door in Marshall County claiming she was accepting donations on behalf of the local hospice. “In every case she’d give a real sad story for patients not having money for bills and food,” Williams said. “Many would give her money right there. I think that this lady was getting quite a bit of money from it.” Cullman County Sheriff Tyler Roden said his office has not received any reports concerning the scam but that similar scams have been reported in the past. “We have seen such a variety of different scams and fraudulent tactics,” Roden said. “Most of the time it’s telemarketing related but from time to time we get reports of this nature.” Roden said he received a report Thursday from a citizen who said she got a phone call from an organization called the Nationwide Verification Security Bureau. “They said her checking information had been stolen and they needed to verify she had the right account,” Roden said. “They wanted her account number ... clearly that was a scam.” Williams said the hospice scam would be easy to identify since a real hospice employee would never travel from door to door and ask for donations. “The only reason a hospice employee would go to a house was if a patient was there or to conduct an evaluation of a possible patient,” Williams said. The Hospice of Cullman County, which is non-profit, receives the majority of its funding from United Way. Donations are only accepted by mail or through the hospice’s web site. Williams added that a true hospice employee always wears scrubs and an identification badge when on the job. The badge will have a picture of the employee, their name and job title. 
More from the Local News section
Holly Pond man arrested on child sex abuse charges Holly Pond WWII veteran receives Bronze Star |
Print this story
Post to del.icio.us
 |
 |
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
 |
|
|
|
|
© 2007, The Cullman Times
300 4th Ave. SE; Cullman, AL 35055 Phone: (256) 734-2131; Fax: (256) 737-1006 Send us your news tips & comments. 
|
Popular Business directory links - Cullman Apartments | Cullman Attorneys | Cullman Auto Dealers | Cullman Auto Parts | Cullman Auto Repair | Cullman Beauty Salons | Cullman Car Rental | Cullman Dentists | Cullman Doctors | Cullman Flowers | Cullman Hotels | Cullman Insurance | Cullman Loans | Cullman Mortgages | Cullman Movers | Cullman Pizza | Cullman Realtors | Cullman Restaurants | Cullman Storage | Cullman Tax Preparation | Cullman Travel | Cullman Featured | More...
|
|
Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc. • CNHI Classified Advertising Network • CNHI News Service |
