Crimes resembling a high stakes version of the old dine-and-dash routine have cropped up in several unrelated incidences across the U.S., as con-artists reportedly give doctors’ offices the new prick-and-run routine.
Dubbed “Botox Bandits” or “Beauty Bandits” by popular media, these criminals give doctors’ offices a fake name and phony contact information, then undergo facial rejuvenation and lip augmentation treatments with Botox, Juvederm, Restylane and other injectable treatments worth anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars.
When it’s time to pay the bill, the crooks make up an excuse to leave the office after their treatment is complete, such as needing to withdraw cash from an ATM, retrieve their purse from the car or check on a waiting child, then take off without paying up. Other patients wishing to get out of settling their tab write rubber checks, knowing they don’t have the funds to cover them.
Doctors in Florida, Texas, Arizona, Nevada and California cities have reported being defrauded by “Beauty Bandits.” Some have even been hit multiple times.
“I’ve had it occur,” says Dallas plastic surgeon and American Society of Plastic Surgery past-president Dr. Rod Rohrich. “It’s mostly in patients I’ve never seen before. The best way [to prevent it] is to have all new patients pre-pay. In this way, we prevent the ‘runners,’ as we call them in Texas.”
Although Florida law enforcement caught local perpetrators of these crimes, including the highly publicized cases of Jaime Merk and Maria Chrysson, doctors in other cities haven’t been so lucky. Some doctors say they don’t even bother reporting these crimes any longer because catching the perpetrators is not a priority for police.
As a result, Dr. Rohrich’s preventative solution of asking new patients to pre-pay for cosmetic services is being adopted by more and more physicians who wish to safeguard their practices against potential fraudulent activity and revenue loss. Many physicians also no longer accept checks.
Upfront payment may sound a bit unwelcoming to some, but a patient-doctor relationship built on trust is hardly fostered when your physician fears of getting bilked out of revenue they need to keep their business afloat. Given the recent influx of “Beauty Bandit” criminals, don’t be alarmed if your doctor asks for cash, credit or debit card payment before doing a round of Botox injections.
