State officials are warning Minnesotans about a genetic-testing scam that’s making the rounds in some parts of the U-S. Minnesota Commerce Commissioner Steve Kelley says people should be suspicious of anyone who offers free genetic testing and requests their Medicare information. Kelley says, “After an individual has provided Medicare information along with, say, a cheek swab or something like that, and then the fraudsters use all of that information to submit fraudulent bills or to steal the person’s identity.”
He says there are even reports of fraudsters offered to pay people to submit D-N-A swabs — something Kelley says “really ought to set alarm bells off.”
Residents in Nebraska have reported scammers making visits to senior living communities, advertised as “D-N-A checks for cancer.”