Pasadena warns residents of fake health officials calling for financial details

Pasadena officials issued a warning on Wednesday, alerting residents to scammers impersonating public health workers to collect sensitive personal and financial information. The city health director, Manuel Carmona, stated that the department wants residents to be aware of fraud schemes where individuals pose as public health staff to obtain private data. He encouraged all community members to stay vigilant against phone and online scams.

Although no fraudulent activity of this specific type has been reported within Pasadena, city officials issued the alert after receiving numerous reports from the California Department of Public Health. Carmona noted that while the California Department of Public Health and the Pasadena Public Health Department may contact individuals for legitimate reasons, such as disease contact tracing, these calls will never request social security numbers, credit card details, or non-health-related information.

Scammers have used several tactics to deceive victims. Some claim that a prescription has been filled in the victim's name and ask for verification details. In other instances, fraudsters escalate the deception by transferring victims to a video call with a person pretending to be a police officer or other authority figure. According to a Pasadena Public Health Department statement, these schemes sometimes involve coordinated individuals who reinforce the fraud by wearing fake uniforms or using invented recording rooms.

Urgency and threats are common tools in these scams, often including warnings about legal consequences or the cancellation of prescriptions. The statement emphasized that legitimate health communications do not rely on pressure or threats to extract financial data.

Residents who receive a suspicious call should hang up immediately and contact the California Department of Public Health at 916-558-1784. Individuals in Pasadena who believe they have been victims of fraud should call the Pasadena Police Department at 626-744-4241. All incidents must also be reported to the Federal Trade Commission at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.