Posted on 12/08/2018 11:22:23 AM PST by Allen In Texas Hill Country
My wife has had Humana for several years and we're both quite satisfied with the service they provide her. And this is not an advertisement for them. Yesterday she got a package with a return label of VRI in Sullivan, Il. I opened it up and inside there was a letter and a USPS return packet with the address label going to Valued Relationships Inc. in Sullivan Il.
The one sheet letter said that her PERS service was ending and that the unit was to be returned. PERS stands for Personal Emergency Reponse System. Its the unit you wear and senses when there is a fall or something and it alerts someone.
Now I cannot overstate, I repeat overstate the professionalism and meticulous detail of both sides of this letter. It had pictures of the unit, telephone numbers to call for any questions, language translation and grievance complaints. All boxed in with Humana this and that.
The wife called one of the numbers on the paper. They said that she had to return the unit and that VRI would replace it. The wife then said she was going to call the number on her Humana card and they hung up. She did call Humana and was told it is a scam. Wow, what an extensive scam for a little PERS unit. I wonder how much the USPS Priority Mail packet cost? Wait a minute, how much is one these units worth? Don't care, I'm going to keep all this material for a month or two just out of curiosity.
Thanks for posting. While I don’t have a PERS unit, it never hurts to be reminded - the friggin’ scammers are everywhere.
Is it a scam? Or is it just Humana continuing their pilot program from 2013? https://press.humana.com/press-release/humana-teams-vri-pilot-enhanced-medical-alert-systems-its-medicare-members
Human trafficking is bad, y'all should set little Humana free.
Is that even her real name?
Does the letter ask for any account info or other personal information or is it evident that the scammers already have it?
Or, to be mean, you could put a rock in the pre-paid envelope and mail it back to them, and encourage others to do so.
Saturday Meanies
Scam by letter delivered by USPS is a federal offense or at least it used to be. You should get better results than a scam phone call.
I bet the money is in some monthly charge for monitoring, not the PERS unit itself. Maybe by swapping you would have been consenting to some more expensive or additional service, certainly not covered already by Humana.
Just an fyi that VRI appears to be a legitimate company.
http://www.hoovers.com/company-information/cs/company-profile.healthcom_inc.581a73e704904581.html
http://www.hoovers.com/company-information/cs/company-profile.healthcom_inc.581a73e704904581.html
While on the subject of scams a friend just sent me the following via email. The bad guys are always thinking...
1. LONG - TERM PARKING
Some people left their car in the long-term parking at the airport while away, and someone broke into the car. Using the information on the car’s registration in the glove compartment, they drove the car to the people’s home and robbed it. So I guess if we are going to leave the car in long-term parking, we should NOT leave the registration/insurance cards in it, nor your remote garage door opener. This gives us something to think about with all our new electronic technology.
2. GPS:
Someone had their car broken into while they were at a football game. Their car was parked on the green which was adjacent to the football stadium and specially allotted to football fans. Things stolen from the car included a garage door remote control, some money and a GPS which had been prominently mounted on the dashboard. When the victims got home, they found that their house had been ransacked and just about everything worth anything had been stolen. The thieves had used the GPS to guide them to the house. They then used the garage remote control to open the garage door and gain entry to the house. The thieves knew the owners were at the football game, they knew what time the game was scheduled to finish and so they
Knew how much time they had to clean out the house. It would appear that they had brought a truck to empty the house of its contents. Something to consider if you have a GPS - don’t put your home address in it. Put a nearby address (like a store or gas station) so you can still find your way home if you need to, but no one else would know where you live if your GPS were stolen.
3. CELL PHONES:
I never thought of this! This lady has now changed her habit of how she lists her names on her cell phone after her handbag was stolen. Her handbag, which contained her cell phone, credit card, wallet, etc., was stolen. Twenty minutes later when she called her hubby, from a pay phone telling him what had happened, hubby says, “I received your text asking about our Pin number and I’ve replied a little while ago.” When they rushed down to the bank, the bank staff told them all the money was already withdrawn. The thief had actually used the stolen cell phone to text “hubby” in the contact list and got hold of the pin number. Within 20 minutes he had withdrawn all the money from their bank account.
4. PURSE IN THE GROCERY CART SCAM:
A lady went grocery-shopping at a local mall and left her purse sitting in the children’s seat of the cart while she reached something off a shelf. Wait till you read the WHOLE story! Her wallet was stolen, and she reported it to the store personnel. After returning home, she received a phone call from the Mall Security to say that they had her wallet and that although there was no money in it, it did still hold her personal papers. She immediately went to pick up her wallet, only to be told by Mall Security that they had not called her. By the time she returned home again, her house had been broken into and burglarized. The thieves knew that by calling and saying they were Mall Security, they could lure her out of her house long enough for them to burglarize it.
Moral lesson:
A. Do not disclose the relationship between you and the people in your contact list. Avoid using names like Home, Honey, Hubby, Sweetheart, Dad, Mom, etc.
B. And very importantly, when sensitive info is being asked through texts, CONFIRM by calling back.
C. Also, when you’re being texted by friends or family to meet them somewhere, be sure to call back to confirm that the message came from them. If you don’t reach them, be very careful about going places to meet “family and friends” who text you.
For things like this I usually look for email addresses or web site urls then trace those things. For email addresses they are usually in some foreign country. Web sites, by their very names, clue me that they are bogus and not related to the supposed company.
No, just put the unit in the packet and mail it.
OP: "She did call Humana and was told it is a scam."
Interesting. Perhaps the return address on the prepaid package is the scam.
Thanks, that is also what I am thinking.
It’s Humana who is misinformed.
There must be some other reason they are running the scam.
Searching: Valued Relationships Inc. Sullivan Il
Shows a Healtcare.com in Sullivan Illinois, along with a story of VRI (Valued Relationships Inc.) partnering with Healthcom
Wingy - You made our day! Thank you for your wonderful online review of our Pocket Knife. It was one of our favorites! To show our appreciation, we are sending you a special gift I hope you enjoy it!
Kathleen Donora Customer Appreciation Specialist
Yes I know that this is not warning of some scam, and it's nothing you have to worry about, but since I don't have Facebook, Twitter, or any other Social Media accounts, I thought that I should share with my fellow Freepers that there are good folks out there too! Merry Christmas!
Ps. I wondered if I should print my review that was mentioned, or give you good folks a short blurb about the company. Instead, if you are interested, simply go to Cutco.com and look up reviews. Somehow, I'm near the top.
Just like some scammer will call saying they’re from your bank wanting verify information. They want you to tell them your personal stuff. Of the several times I had a call I simply told them, well you supposedly have it in front of you so read it back to me. Same with those IRS scams. On the bank calls I just tell them I’ll call back using the number on my card. They hang up. “Unknown Caller” showing up on your phone caller ID clues you in right there.
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