I got back from my trip to BC to find 3 or 4 messages on my answering machine from someone named Sherri Pall calling about a "business matter" without any details. I get my share of email spam, so I just assumed it was some telemarketing scam and deleted the messages. She kept calling without elaborating at all, so I finally called back today out of curiosity. Turns out it's some collection agency. I moved to a new apartment last September and apparently forgot to update my address with Alberta Healthcare. So now the collection agency wants my new address and billing information to bring my account up to date.

I don't doubt that this is the way things normally work in the real world, but I was shocked at the insecurity in the system. Basically, someone calls me out of the blue, doesn't identify themselves or provide any means of authentication, and wants me to hand over a bunch of personal information and pay them money.

me: "So, is there any way for me to verify that you're actually a collection agency? No offense, but you just called me out of the blue and are asking for my personal information."
Sherri: "Did you go through reception when you called?"
me: "Yes."
Sherri: "Well, how did the receptionist answer the phone?"
me: "Uh, I could answer the phone like that."

So I said I'd call Alberta Healthcare and ask them about it. I asked her if I could just pay Alberta Healthcare directly (since I can do that through my online banking account instead of arranging some alternate arrangement with this unknown organization) and she said no, I would have to pay the collection agency. When I called ABHC, they said I certainly could pay my account directly. I asked why they didn't just call me instead of hiring a collection agency, since they have my phone number on file. "We don't have the staff or the budget for that," I was told. I'm no high-ranking government budgetary analyst, but wouldn't it be much cheaper to try the phone number on file before hiring a collection agency? Idiots.