Health and Wellness Informatics News
Ten individuals committed fraudulent activities. The US Department of Justice has charged them. They committed fraud in healthcare systems. A new approach can help change this situation.
The US Department of Justice charged ten individuals. These individuals posed as business partners. They used this identity to conduct fraudulent activities in healthcare firms. They were also responsible for diverting payments for hospitals that provided certain medical services.
A business email compromise is the main fraudulent activity of individuals. After that, they committed wire fraud acts. Many firms came under the grasp of these frauds. Five Medicaid programs and two medicare administrative contractors are also there. Two private health insurers also came under this healthcare fraud.
The healthcare firms got deceived by the individuals. However, they deposited money to the defendant’s and co-conspirator’s accounts. They should also have deposited the payments in the bank accounts of the hospitals. But the individuals were able to make their move here.
The individuals are from Virginia, South Carolina, and Georgia. They also used spoof email addresses to create the perfect identity. Their perfection led to the loss of around 4.7 million dollars in healthcare. Many government and private agencies, with some elderly individuals, lost $6.4 million.
This whole plan worked out because of fake names and near-perfect identities. The stolen funds went overseas as well. The funds also came to good use as the individuals bought luxury goods and automobiles. This shows that healthcare systems need a very strong cybersecurity connection. Or these frauds will keep happening.
A federal district court judge has the most power here. The sentence rests with the judge. The penalty can be at most 30 years behind bars. One of the ten individuals involved pleaded guilty to his crimes. He was also guilty of making a fake passport and using fraud to get money. He will now serve four years in prison.
Spoofing and phishing are the easiest tactics to use to commit fraud. Healthcare organizations are facing the brunt of these tactics for five years now. It is also a common occurrence that people are always attacked. Their sensitive information is always on the line. We need a people-centered cybersecurity approach to tackle this problem.
