SIDNEY -- About a week ago, News Channel Nebraska learned of a telephone scam where a caller would contact a Cheyenne County resident claiming there is a warrant for the resident, and it could be paid over the phone. A second similar scam has been reported implying a debt to the hospital.

Kevin Challburg, Director of Information Technology at Sidney Regional Medical Center, said today there is a new scam taking place claiming an individual has a hospital bill in collections.

"We always see a handful of scams every year, predominantly around the holiday season. What we see here is more medical-centric. The most recent one that we've been aware of is a company called ABC Industries and they call a patient and they claim to be affiliated with us, only they say they are affiliated with Sidney Memorial Hospital, which is kind of the first red flag," Challburg said.

Challburg stressed that is not the official name of Sidney Regional Medical Center. He added the caller claims the hospital has turned the resident over to collections because of an amount of money they owe. The call may go further, seeking personal information from the resident, he said.

"And then they proceed to try and validate, get the user, the recipient, to validate some information to them. I would just caution everybody to make sure they're not giving away personal information, especially if somebody calls them. Take the information down, do your due diligence, hang up, call the organization back directly and verify whether it was a legitimate call or concern," Challburg said.

He said a resident who receives a questionable call should try to get information from the caller, then call Sidney Regional Medical Center to verify the data. Returning a call to the caller could set a recipient up for deeper complications.

"Never trust the number that they give you. If they leave you a voice mail, always look up the number yourself and make sure it's the right number for the organization that they're calling about," he said.

For more information on how to keep yourself from becoming a victim of fraud, see https://department.va.gov/privacy/fact-sheet/scammers-calling-how-to-prevent-getting-scammed-over-the-phone/