I'm just editing my post - the guy said the company name is Emergency Medical Associates - was that the same company info you guys got as well?

I just received a call from this same number.  they said it was in reference to my mothers recent ER visit.  I asked if I could help but the guy said no.  hhhmmm
interesting that there are these other seemingly scam calls from this same number.

This number calls says thety are EMS and want tons of personal ID when I asked what it is in regard to, they have no idea.   Tooo weird.  They say they need to  "get my personal info" to to "look me up" and see what if anything is the isse.  HUH?   Got to ba a scam or attempted ID theift.

EMA runs the Emergency Room at several Northern VA hospitals, in my case they called specifically about an ER visit I had at Reston Hospital Center back in January.

Like others here, they expected ME to verify my personal information.  I knew who they were and knew it was a legit call so I didn't mind verifying address and birthday.  They did not ask for my SSN.

They called with what they were calling a "courtesy call" about a bill that I had received, get this, less than three weeks before.  Talk about passive-aggressive ways to get you to pay a bill!  It hadn't even hit 30 days outstanding and they were already hounding me about it.

This is not a great way to do business, guys... plus its irritating.

If you like send them a Cease and  Desist Letter :  Request  the name  and  address of  the   copmany that  is  calling you. By  Maryland  Law  they must  give  that info. and send  them a Cert. letter.  Debt Collection Cease and Desist Letter

Today's Date

Your Name
Your Address

Collector's Name
Collector's Address

Dear Debt Collector,

I am writing to request that you cease your communication with me. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act specifically states in Section 805(c), referencing ceasing communication that you must cease all communication with me after being notified in writing that I no longer wish to communicate with you.

Therefore, I require that you stop calling me at home, at work, on my cell phone or any other location. Nor do I wish to receive any further written or electronic communication. In addition, do not call or communicate with any third party acquaintance of mine per section 805(b)2 of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

According to the FDCPA?s federal guidelines, I understand that once you receive this letter, you may only contact me to inform me that you:

are terminating further collection efforts
are invoking specified remedies that are ordinarily invoked by you or your company
intend to invoke a specified remedy.
Be advised that I am aware of my rights, and that I am keeping records of all correspondence and communication from you and your company, including tape recording all phone calls. If you continue calling me, I will pursue all available legal actions to stop you from harassing me and my family.

Signature
Your Printed Name

They called me today as well. can we nuke them? )

rec'vd 2nd call from these people - SHADY is right - I am POA for my family member in hospice they REFUSE to give me any info due to PRIVACY -  I am well aware of privacy acts .....These people would not even email me a written request for my POA paperwork. ???? Supposedly they are going to mail info to my address - NEVER rec'vd ANY paperwork from these people....??? I am TRUSTING my instinct on this one. We'll see if I receive anything thru the mail.

They called; left no msg . . .

These people called me today asking for my phone and address. Asking me to confirm my identity. I told them the same thing, sure, no problem. Once they read my address and DOB back to me first.


DONT FALL FOR THIS RACKET!!!!

Same here! A Lady asked me for my date of birth and mailing address. I told her that would gladly confirm the info that they have on file if she reads it to me, but i was not going to give someone i don't know my personal info just because they called. She refused and told me to call them back at my first convenience.... RIGHT....

Scam artists apparently.....(didn't leave a message)

I am getting calls from these people. Never got a statement so I have no WID number. Don't want to put in a ssn. That's shady. Did have a recent hospital stay, but have paid all my bills and they all have all my info. Checked out the website mentioned and the toll free number there is different than what they are leaving on the message. If it was a bill collector I'm sure they'd call every day, not once a week, they'd try at any hour they think they could reach you and they'd use a real person, not an automated system.

This number keeps calling me even after I have paid my balance with them for my son's x-rays. I agree with a previous lady on the thread here that they add charges that other medical companies that do x-rays do not. I would NEVER recommend going to the Fairfax Inova Hospital Emergency room if you think you will require x-rays. If you do, it will cost you out of pocket. They use a company that most insurance do not cover fully and they overcharge. I had emergency visits at a different Inova branch hospital and NEVER had to pay out of pocket x-ray costs, either time! This company also harasses by phone. I would also NOT recommend this hospital as they have staff that do not know what they are doing and therefore run unnecessary tests before they can not figure out the illnesses and run up your medical bill severely. One night there of testing for my two year old (to conclude they did not know what was wrong with him or why he had a fever of 104) cost more than when I had a broken arm! Stay away from the whole medical facility. When I told my Pediatrician, she said she did not like that hospital. Now I know why!!!!

same

Received a phone call. No message left.

Asked me about all my private information, incl. SSN

I asked who are you, but I was told that they can give me more information before I provided all MY information to them (for security resons)

searched for this number since I won't pick up numbers I don't recognize. When I saw someone said this was EMA I checked my EMA bill (I have been in contact with them, I just didn't recognize the number) and the number is in fact listed on there, as well as the website: www.emaonline.com

The first time I called they did ask me to verify personal information, so I would expect them to do that if I called again, but I can see why that would be sketchy if you hadn't already received a paper bill from them for services rendered. The first time I called them (to give insurance information) they were polite and helpful, and did not seem at all illegitimate.

I think they are (semi)legit, but shady characters.

They called me, and the first lady was fairly nice, but when i balked at reciting all of my details for her to "verify" she of course insisted that *i* provide her the information.  Of course, she has it in front of her, if she's legit.  She called my registered home phone number.  

I offered a challenge response (i'll tell you the first two digits, you tell me the next two) which might assure everyone that everyone else is legitimately involved.  No dice.

She gave me a callback number of 888 288 1628.  I called back, waited an insultingly long time, and was eventually (after much drama) hung up on.  We went through the same verification dance, but this time i had googled the number and come up with this un-reassuring page.

The representative tried to convince me that the URL is www.emaonline.org, which is not a valid address.   www.emaonline.com is a valid address, but apparently the CSR had never seen it.  This phone number is not listed anywhere on that site.  

IF this is a legit bill (and i think it probably is) I want to pay it.  The CSR wanted to terminate the call, and i asked if she was hanging up on me.  No, of course not.  But you have to regurgitate your details to continue.

me:  OK, how about you just transfer me to Jackie Pollock?  (CEO as listed on the web page)

CSR:  Sure, hold   (a few minutes)

CSR:  She's not answering, would you like to leave her a voicemail?

me:  sure

[on hold again, then disconnected]



A message for Jackie:

HI!  I'm sorry to be a pain in the a**, but your folks did a poor job of assuring me that your company is legitimate.  When i asked the CSR to verify YOUR address (giving her the hint that it's in Germantown) she balked.  It is unfair to ask someone to "verify" information that you yourself are not willing to "verify."

As i said above:  I think this is probably a legit debt, but i'm not sure.  The combination of the number you called me from being more or less unlisted, and it not even appearing on your web-page (which really, could also be easily faked for a phishing scheme) means i'm not going to give you a whole lot of information.  The level of assurance is very low.

What could you do about it?  Call from the number that's on your webpage.  Accomodate cautious people, provide a method for US to verify YOU.  Had i felt comfortable with your CSR's responses, i would have paid the bill immediately via credit card.  I never pay attention to snail mail, and it's not impossible that something you mailed slipped past me.

Feel free to email me, if you wish.

Gee I wonder if Jennifer works there??????? Why would you be on here if they did everything right and legal, this is for posting questionable phone calls! Jennifer is full of it! ! !

They left me a message on my cell phone, and when I called them back, they asked me for my WID#. Since I didn't have one, they asked me for my name, address, and birthday to verify the account. They never asked me for a SSN -- and I never would have given it to them.

In my case, the information they had was accurate. I did owe money related to a recent hospital visit, but they did not have the correct contact information for my insurance company, so the insurance company never paid them. I gave Emergency Medical Associates the correct contact information for my insurnace company, so they could bill them accordingly and haven't heard from them again.

In my case, the person did not have a foreign accent, did not ask for my social security number, did not ask for any money, and was calling about a legitimate bill. They acted very professionally and complied with the law.

As an attorney, (while this is not intended to be legal advice b/c every state's laws are different) I can tell you that if a bill collector does call you asking for your full SSN, you should never give it to them. By law, if you don't believe you owe what a bill collector alleges, you can tell the bill collector that you dispute the bill and no longer want to be contacted by phone (but you must give them your mailing address). Follow that up by asking for their mailing address and write them a letter disputing the charges. Then, they will not be allowed to continue attempting to collect on the bill until after an investigation and they will only be allowed to contact you via US Mail. If they continue to contact you via phone after you have disputed the bill, you can sue them and/or report them to your state's Attorney General.

Even if you do owe the bill, they are still now allowed to harass you (even though calling frequently or calling after business hours is okay). But if a bill collector is threatening to contact your employer or your family or is calling after 9 or 10pm or is calling you names, you can report them to your state's Attorney General.

For more information on acceptable debt collection practices, you can read the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre27.pdf

They are calling me every weeked using the above phone number and blocked number most of time. most of them have indian accent. in additon they call out of bussines hours like after 6 pm. They use different ways to get personal information such as DOB and social security number. Those individuals are bunch of  illegal people.

I've received several messages from this number noting a 7 digit WID # ending in 008.  I try to call them back and the automated menu asks me for birthday and social sec # info.  I only type in 0's to get an operator.  I've been on hold in excess of 10 min several times.  I think it's a scam.

This company is famous for surcharges on your bill that most insurances wont pay.  I have a friend who is on Medicare and Medicaid for Maryland.  Every time she goes to the hospital, there is always a bill for 10.32 that is not paid.  According to the rules of Maryland, if a person has both Medicare and Medicaid, there is not bill due to the patient.  Any charges that were not paid by either are NOT the responsibility of the patient but are to written off by the biller. I called the hospital several times to complain about thier billing company and each time I call the hospital contacts them and tells them they cant charge.  I had my friend call the BBB and we are awaiting a decision.  If you are in this situation with Medicaid And Maryland Medicare, you stand your ground, YOU DONT PAY!!!!!

Called them back, it's "Emergency Medical Associates".