The Provost's Office recently learned from an emeritus faculty member about a possible phone scam related to prescription medications. The caller identified themselves as an employee of Express Scripts and told the emeritus faculty member they needed to switch prescriptions to another pharmacy. The caller also appeared to have obtained personal information and asked the emeritus faculty member to confirm their identity. Fortunately, this emeritus was immediately suspicious, did not provide the requested personal information, and ended the call.

If you are contacted via phone by someone claiming to be from Express Scripts, Blue Cross Blue Shield, or another medical or insurance-related organization, please do not provide personal information to the caller. Hang up and call the organization directly to verify that they have asked an employee to reach out to you.

Phone numbers for the organizations related to the University of Chicago's Retiree Medical Plan can be found on the Benefits page on this website, as well as on the Human Resources website.

Though we have not heard of an email component to this incident, anyone with an email address should also always be on the lookout for phishing scams. A phishing scam is an email that looks legitimate but that attempts to glean your personal or financial information. You can read more about common scams and traps, as well as a list of recent phishing attempts, at security.uchicago.edu/phishing. For more tips on how to identify one of these emails, visit security.uchicago.edu/how-to-identify-a-phishing-scam. If you receive an email at your UChicago email address and have questions about whether it is legitimate, please do not click on any links or attachments and contact security@uchicago.edu.

Remember that no reputable organization, including the University of Chicago, will ever send an unsolicited email requesting personal information such as your password or social security number.