Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch is issuing an advisory today warning elderly pharmacy customers of the former Brooks Pharmacy chain not to disclose any personal information, such as Social Security or credit card numbers, to telephone callers claiming that they work for Rite Aid Corp. — the national drugstore chain that acquired Brooks in June of this year — and need the information to ensure that Rite Aid’s files are completely up to date.

Lynch stressed that although his office has received only one complaint, the scam appears to be the result of an organized effort. “Based on our preliminary investigation, this is a scheme that is targeting and attempting to extract confidential information from Rhode Island senior citizens who are living in high-rise communities and assisted-living situations,” he said. “Fortunately, the woman who called us to make a complaint was wary and refused to provide any details. Obviously, no industry has been more affected by fraud and identity theft than retail and no reputable company like Rite Aid would ever have employees calling customers to verify personal and confidential details.”

In this scheme, the consumer answering the call reported hearing a pre-recorded woman’s voice, being asked to furnish her birth date and Social Security number, and being given a list of numeric options through which she could supply the information to “Rite Aid,” in order for “Rite Aid” to have the most up-to-date information possible to assist in its acquisition of Brooks, a well-recognized name in the New England drugstore sector for several decades. Fortunately, the would-be victim, a 64-year-old Warwick resident, hung up.

“Rite Aid takes its responsibility for maintaining our patients’ protected health information in confidence very seriously,” said Rite Aid spokesperson Ashley Flower. “Rite Aid does not use a Social Security number to identify its patients and does not require that patients update their pharmacy profiles over the phone. We are thankful that this individual did not fall victim to the attempted scam. Individuals with questions regarding Rite Aid, its acquisition of Brooks or Rite Aid’s pharmacy operations may contact 1-800-RITEAID (1-800-748-3243).”

“Although nobody is immune from scams, con artists target seniors because they operate on the theory that seniors are more trusting and, therefore, easier to scam,” Lynch said. “Unfortunately, victims of identity theft, young or old, can spend months or years — as well as their hard-earned money — cleaning up the mess thieves have made of their good name and credit record.”

Consumers with questions or concerns are urged to call the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Unit at 274-4400. Press “1” at the first prompt for English or “3” for Spanish, and “1” at the second prompt.

# # #

Related links