State authorities warn that
DNA testers have targeted poor neighborhoods and senior communities.
Authorities
in several states are warning about an alleged scam in which people
visit senior-living communities and low-income neighborhoods,
offering to perform DNA tests and collecting information from people
in government health programs. The alleged DNA-testing
scams appear to be a new twist on an old tactic, in which people are
tricked into giving away personal information or participating
in medical services they don’t need. Perpetrators of such schemes
can bill the government for unneeded medical tests and procedures, or
use the information they collect — such as Medicare and
Medicaid identification data — to commit identity theft and
fraud.
