Scam which targeted hospital patients reported to gardaí

By Darragh McDonagh

A scam in which hospital patients received letters advising them they had won money in a lottery has been reported to An Garda Síochána.

Saolta University Health Care Group contacted both the gardaí and the Data Protection Commissioner after nine patients reported getting the correspondence after attending University Hospital Galway (UHG) in April.

The letter advised recipients that they had won a “European Hospital Patient Lottery”, which it said was run by Anglo American Lottery. A transfer fee was sought in order to release a prize.

A spokesperson for the Saolta group said that the letters had not been sent from the hospital, and it is not known how the sender obtained the details of patients who had attended UHG.

“We do not believe our systems were compromised,” they added.

A total of nine patients have reported receiving the letter to date. However, Saolta has asked any other recipients to forward a copy of the correspondence to the information services manager at UHG.

“The hospital would like to strongly stress to patients and their families that it has absolutely no association with or knowledge of this company (Anglo American Lottery), and would urge patients not to reply with any personal details,” they said.

We have followed up with the patients [who received the letter] and the Data Protection Commissioner has been advised, and the issue is being investigated… An Garda Síochána were notified.

The letters sent to patients’ home addresses advised recipients that they had been picked through the use of a “private ballot system of the data of all sick patients admitted in the wards all around Europe”.

It noted that the “data generated winning record” showed that they had been admitted to a ward at UHG.

“Winners” were advised to keep the news of their good fortune confidential until the claim has been processed and the money is transferred into their bank account. This would avoid double claims and “unwarranted abuse of this program by other participants”.

The letter stated that all prizes must be claimed within days or the money would be refunded back into another draw. A questionnaire was attached seeking personal details so that the organisers could “ensure we are paying the right winner”.

A spokesperson for the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner confirmed that it had received a breach notification, and further information has been sought in relation to the incident.