Apparently enough people still fall for this scam that it still has traction.
In a new — and oddly perverse — twist to this scam, there have recently been solicitations purporting to come from Ruth Madoff, wife of convicted Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff. In her e-mail, she says the feds have seized most of her husband’s assets (which is true), but that she has some assets hidden away that she is trying to protect from the feds (which many people suspect is true). In return for clicking a link, she promises to share some of this wealth with you.
Even though this may appear to be a personal/home computer user issue, clicking on the links in these and similar suspicious e-mails causes a potentially serious security breach to any medical facility’s IT systems, and could lead to a HIPAA Security Rule violation. You should constantly remind both your business office and clinical staff of such issues, just as you would do with other ongoing education topics such as infection control, patient safety and sharps disposal.
Mr. Jenkins, PhD, is founder and CEO of QSE Technologies, which provides IT consulting services for ASCs and other medical facilities nationwide.
