The place where I had my cataract surgery (at least it came up as the surgery center on my caller ID) called to say that they had an overage to return to me. They don’t keep credit cards on file, she said, so in order for me to get the money back they’d need that number and would credit it to my account.
For some reason, this didn’t sit right with me so I told her to send me a check. Am I being too paranoid? I’m in no rush for the money, less than $30. What would you have done? I am not in the habit of giving my cc number to someone who calls me unprompted. Curious what my cc friends would’ve done.
You did the right thing. This sounds like a scam. What “account” are they crediting– your co-pay? The insurance reimbursement? You paid ahead of time for a surgical procedure before you were billed???
Smart to wait. I know several people who were the victims of identity theft via some kind of medical/health care related scam. People’s guards are down when the “message” is from a doctor’s office….
You did the right thing. Can you call the cataract place yourself and ask to speak with billing? That is scary though. I know not to do such things, but I could see how I could fall for it if I was in a rush or something. And my H would definitely fall for it.
Dh said that I should call the surgery center as well, but I’m not inclined to. If I don’t receive a check in the week or so she said it should be available, then I might.
It’s funny that I hear about scams committed on the “elderly” and that has made me more suspicious, which, truly, probably is a good thing. I don’t consider myself elderly at 63, but I am getting there!
I don’t think the scams are specific to “the elderly” as much as they are targeted to less tech savvy people. Which in many cases– means old folks.
I can’t imagine any of my kids giving out their social security number, date of birth, mother’s maiden name on the phone. But I know people who have gotten scammed- sometimes big time money losses- by doing that. You try to tell them “your bank is not going to call you to ask your mother’s maiden name. That’s not a thing” but when the caller ID says “M&T Bank” and the rep says “Hi, this is Janet, the IRS is trying to send you your tax refund via direct deposit but for some reason your account keeps kicking it back. If you just give me your social security number I can fix this for you right now and the money will be in your account by close of business this afternoon” it sounds very, very tempting to people of our generation.
I agree with your H and would notify the cataract surgical center. If their records were hacked and it is a scam the center can warn other patients (who may not be as saavy). If it is a legitimate refund, they can tell you as well.
Yes, and they send it to me without any notice. OR I end up with a credit on my account and they refund at the end of the fiscal year. NEVER to my credit card…always by check.
Last week we received a very real looking letter and check supposedly from the car dealer who sold us a car in March 2025. Claimed there was $600 refund check based on some kind of tax/registration fee snafu. Seemed scammy to me. Told hubby do NOT touch it without consulting with the dealership.
I probably would have hung up and called the cataract surgery place directly and speak with the finance office, see if any of it was true. Then make a decision.
I just got a $20 refund check from a medical provider for my mother, who died 4 years ago. It was through a billing place in Ohio (she lived in Colorado). I’m sure it came up from an audit (probably a co-pay she didn’t owe).
So I don’t think it is a scam but there are safer ways to refund. I know that even if they had my credit card number from the time of service it is very unlikely that number would still be valid. I just had to change the number of my credit and debit cards from my credit union because they mailed new cards to my home address without an apartment number on them and USPS would not deliver (it’s on there, but just says ‘116’ and not Apt 116 so I don’t think the mailman understood what it meant). Another card had to be replaced twice in June because of fraud attempts. Another was replaced last year. Going through a bad period.
I once got a refund check from a provider (a large medical group). When I asked them (the billing/finance part of the group), they verified that it was real, but could not tell me what it was for.
Refund checks aren’t atypical. It happens to me often when a provider makes me prepay for something before going through insurance. They tend to base it on their standard fee, not negotiated fee. Or if someone is having an expensive procedure/surgery, everyone is trying to claim the same $5000 deductible. In that case, I’m due thousands back.
But where I see the difference here is that when it’s a small amount and I’m not actively following up on it, it takes months to a year to get it back. Often I don’t get it back, it’s just a credit on my next yearly visit. In the case of several thousands of dollars, I am calling to check on it, but it has to go through insurance first. Once insurance pays, then it goes through 1-2 months of billing cycles before I get the refund. I’d say 6 weeks at the minimum, usually 2-3 months. I think in the OP case, the procedure was less than this. That’s what makes me go hmmm..
If you don’t want to call and check - make your H do it! Out of curiosity more than anything. Or, if you need to go in for a follow up - ask then
It’s one thing to receive a check as a refund. It’s quite another thing for some random person to call and claim they need your credit card number so they can give you a refund.
I would never give my credit card to some person who just called me.
