Horsham retiree Alistair Cowie tried to get a pneumonia vaccine at the new doctors practice in town earlier this month.
Key points:
- A man is warning former Tristar patients of a potential scam website they are being directed to to make doctors appointments
- Tristar collapsed in May this year, but its landline phone numbers have not passed to the people who bought its clinics
- Data from scamwatch.gov.au suggests Australians have lost more than $526 million to scams in 2022
A company by the name of Family Doctor had taken over Tristar Medical Group’s office earlier this year, after the company’s dramatic fall from grace.
Mr Cowie called the clinic’s regular number to make an appointment with the new GP.
But instead of an appointment, he received a rude shock.
An automated voice answered, redirecting him to a website called drasap.com.au.
There he was asked for his Medicare number and an $80 out-of-pocket payment to book a telehealth appointment with “one of our available doctors”.
Mr Cowie was unconvinced.
“This came across as a scam immediately to me,” he said.
“But I’m aware the possibility of people being scammed, if they’re not as familiar with the online world, is pretty high.”
Family Doctor
Melbourne medical firm Family Doctor bought several clinics from the Tristar group during the company’s collapse, including centres in Horsham, Bendigo, Wodonga, Ballarat and the outer suburbs of Melbourne.
In a statement, Family Doctor’s managing director Dr Rodney Aziz said the…
