PALMYRA, N.Y. – “I think I’m being scammed,” Donna Garrison said from her front porch in Palmyra. “And it’s not the first time either.”

A News10NBC investigation looks into payment demands for blood tests that never happened. 

This has already prompted one complaint to the New York State Attorney General’s office.

At least one of News10NBC’s viewers was called by a lab and a collection agency demanding payment for bloods tests that she says never happened.

Donna Garrison takes meticulous notes. The notes tell her in mid-May, she got a call from a company called Alliance Diagnostics “stating I owe $570 for blood work,” she said.

Garrison says the caller said the tests were from December 2022.

Garrison says she checked with her doctor and insurance company and says they found no record of any tests.

Then on June 19th, Garrison got a call from a collection agency called Financial Recovery Systems.

“And they were calling on behalf of Alliance Diagnostics stating that I owe them 573.20,” she said.

News10NBC Chief Investigative Reporter Berkeley Brean: “Donna, you asked for a bill, right?”

Donna Garrison, billed for payment: “Yes I did.”

Brean: “And did they agree to give you one?”

Garrison: “No.”

Once again, Garrison called her doctor’s office and her insurance company, Excellus BlueCross BlueShield.

And she told them what the callers told her.

Brean: “They said you had blood work done in December of 2022 and September of 2022. But your doctors’ offices and your insurance company say…”

Garrison: “Nothing.”

Brean: “Never happened.”

Garrison: “Never had them. No.”

This is not the only case.

Google the company names and you find multiple complaints about blood test bills, all for roughly the same amount.

And a bonafide company in New York called Alliance Laboratory filed a complaint with the New York State Attorney General, saying people call them thinking it’s the company demanding money.

The complaint letter says these are “deceptive calls on a national scale” causing “confusion and distress to the public” and “potential damage” to Alliance Laboratory’s reputation.

For a week, Brean has been calling the numbers that called Garrison: the same numbers listed in the complaint to the attorney general.

They either go to different companies with different numbers, don’t work, have a constant busy signal, or no voicemail set up at all.

Even the email to Alliance Diagnostics doesn’t include the “@” symbol.

Those are the red flags.

“I think they’re just using the name of a reputable company to try and confuse people into thinking they have outstanding medical bills when they don’t,” said Lynn Henderson, Garrison’s niece.

Brean: “What are you concerned about?”

Lynn Henderson, niece of woman being billed: “I mean the reason I reached out to you was because we do have a lot of seniors in this community and I want people to know, I want people to be aware that this is happening and that they should ask the questions. We were lucky. She asked the questions.”

Here are the numbers that called Garrison, are listed in online complaints, and listed in the complaint to the attorney general.

• (808) 481-3373
• (845) 288-5013
• (262) 307-4081

If you receive similar phone calls, you can compare them to these numbers.

If you have received similar calls, we’d like to hear from you. Email us at 10investigates@whec.com and bbrean@whec.com.