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Surgical Identity Theft: How Far Will They Go?
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We have heard of some crazy things people do to set scams, steal identities and then the crazy stuff they buy with your money. I have heard recently of women stealing Botox injections and even more astounding is the fact surgical procedures are also being chalked up to identity theft in the past year. It is being called surgical identity theft. It was only a matter of time before this started happening. I mean, healthcare is like 20% of our GDP.
This story really stuck out. And so I felt the need to show the extent of identity theft in 2010. Brace yourselves. This is the story of one woman’s quest to obtain fulfillment. Yvonne Pampellonne was your typical 30-year-old California girl. This typical girl walked into the Pacific Center for Plastic Surgery and walked out with $17,000 in lipo and a brand new set of implants. She didn’t pay a dime. She stole a woman’s name to set up a line of credit. She hit the road and didn’t have to pack much, seeing as everything she stole was pretty much right in front of her.
The story gets better. She had implants already. Pampellonne has inherited the alias of “The Breast Implant Bandit”. The Bandit is now looking at six months of hard time after pleading guilty to grand theft boob, identity theft, and burglary.
However did the authorities catch The Bandit? Apparently there is serial numbers on implants. They used the serial numbers of her old set that were removed.
Don’t let your identity wind up on someone’s chest. Here are some tips to ward off surgicial identity theft:
- Watch your credit report and identify any medical debts on the report (make sure they are yours).
- Look at any explanation of benefits that may be sent to you by insurers. If anything appears to be incorrect, contact the insurer or provider for a full explanation. When a statement isn’t yours, don’t ignore it just because it says you don’t owe any money.
- Request and review every benefit associated with being paid in your name by insurance plans to which you belong.
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