Bassett Warns Against Scammers Posing as Recruiters

COOPERSTOWN—Bassett Healthcare Network issued an announcement to the community on Friday, October 12 warning of an e-mail scam that appears to be affecting members of the public. Patients and community members are asked to remain vigilant when opening e-mail messages.

Criminals are posing as representatives and/or recruiters on behalf of A.O. Fox Hospital and attempting to steal money and personal identification information from victims. The suspicious e-mails are reaching victims both domestically and internationally. At this time, A.O. Fox Hospital appears to be the only Bassett site being falsely represented.

These e-mails often follow a script that reads: “A.O. Fox Memorial Hospital is pleased to extend an offer of employment to you for the full-time position of X. Please review the following summary of job terms and conditions.” The e-mail prompts the reader to “scan a copy of personal forms of identification for employment verification,” attempting to procure such things as copies of passports, social security numbers, birth certificates, national ID cards, and more. The e-mails are also asking for money for fingerprinting and other pre-employment processes, officials say.

According to the announcement, Bassett Healthcare Network will never ask potential job seekers for any forms of payment or personal documents prior to a genuine job offer. If you or someone you know receives an e-mail like this, do not respond or open the message. Report the incident directly to Trina Silver, privacy officer at Bassett, at (607) 547-7900 or patrenia.silver@bassett.org.

Bassett officials advise that if you believe you have fallen victim to this scam, you should take steps to protect yourself right away, including, but not limited to:

• Contacting your local police department or sherriff’s office to file a complaint.
• File a complaint with the FBI website—at the Internet Complaint Center—by visiting www.ic3.gov, or call (202) 324-3000.
• Call the Federal Trade Commission at 877-FTC-HELP, 877-ID-THEFT, or reach out via www.ftc.gov. 
• Change all passwords, especially for financial institutions, and begin using two-factor authentication methods.
• Call your banks and financial institutions and activate a credit freeze.
• If you subscribe to services from an identity protection service—such as LifeLock, Identity Guard or IDShield—call them.
• Call your insurance company—some personal policies have protection.
• Seek advice from your personal attorneys or accountants.

Bassett’s team of cybersecurity experts has launched an investigation into this issue and is continually taking steps to put in place the most rigorous digital safeguards. No patient, employee or applicant data has been compromised, officials said.