Social Engineering - Keeping your Private Health Data Safe
Updated: Sep 7, 2021
You have heard the term before, "Social Engineering". It reminds you of a James Bond Top Secret Double Agent type movie, but the sad truth is that this is a real threat and the target is you. For the last few years there has been a trend in crime on the rise, the Scam.
It started off so innocent in it's early days, the little old lady that lives alone in her Mansion out in the South West Pacific somewhere just picked your name out of a phone book and sent you an email to let you know that you can have her fortune if you provide your bank account and routing number within the next 24 hours. You happily oblige because "Hey! It's free money" and before you realize what just happened your entire life savings is wiped clean.
Then, it got a little more aggressive...
You receive a phone call, the person on the other end sounds very upset and says " Hello, I am an agent with the IRS, you owe $20,000.00 in unpaid taxes and a warrant has been put out for your arrest". After the panic sets in and you think to your self "I must have forgotten something and they are going to lock me up for it" the Fake IRS Agent gladly informs you that if you pay the debt with a Credit Card over the phone right now all your problems will go away. You happily give them your information and presto, you are now 20,000 in debt because of this scam artist.
Which brings me to the latest scam we just became aware of. Doctors trying to be scammed out of sensitive Information.
Doctors are now being targeted for their DEA License numbers. This could lead to Controlled Pharmaceuticals being ordered under an unknowing doctors number and then sold in the black market to drug users or drug dealers. Fortunately, these fake call scams have already lost their surprise on informed people in society and our doctors are the most informed. With todays rapid acceleration into the technological future a lot of these scams have been addressed and taken into consideration when planning on technology upgrades.
New government regulations require doctors to have regularly held security training meetings with their staff to make sure everyone is aware of all the scams and tricks that are out there trying to infiltrate this highly sensitive health data. And the best part about a physician belonging to the Florida Wellcare Alliance is you can be assured his/her staff is up to date on making sure your data is safe.
Some find this new technology to be bad because of these data scam issues. But, if you plan a good security policy for your business and make sure the staff members are aware by holding regular training, the good out weighs the bad in all levels of measurement. Just think of all the healthcare breakthroughs that have happened within the last 10 years, all due to advances in Healthcare technology and it is only going to get better.
Always remember, whether you are the doctor or the patient, no government official will ever call on the phone to ask for personal or sensitive information and as much as you want to believe it, you did not have an Aunt Martha that owned half of a small country that now wants you to have it all. Please be careful of your information and do not give it up so freely.