United States - FTC Cracks Down On U.S.-Canada Bogus Prescription Discount Card Scam Targeting Seniors

The FTC has moved to shut down a cross-border scam targeting seniors across the United States by offering them phony prescription drug discounts and pretending to be affiliated with Medicare, Social Security, or medical insurance providers. Many consumer victims were allegedly led to believe they could lose their benefits if they failed to purchase the cards, which in reality were available for free and generally do not provide any discounts to consumers who already have private or public health insurance. The FTC complaint alleges that the callers convinced their victims to turn over their bank account numbers and used that information to debit money from victims’ accounts. TheFTC worked with law enforcement partners in Canada on this case including the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and the Centre of Operations Linked to Telemarketing Fraud (Project COLT), a U.S. Canadian partnership thatcombats cross-border telemarketing-related fraud.