Fraud Alert: Fake Medicare Calls Targeting Recipients

We are all familiar with call scams targeting our phones these days and many of us get multiple calls every week.

But as one woman learned, many of the callers this year are making false claims about being Medicare, and it’s very easy for a Medicare recipient to fall in love with one of them.

Jill Eilers is recovering from a knee replacement and is trying to pay her bills and insurance coverage. When she receives medical calls, she listens.

“I answer the phone and they ask if I’m Jill and I say yes,” she said of several recent calls.

One sounded very important.

“They said they are working with Medicare and want to send new cards due to the COVID situation, saying things have changed and they want to send all their customers new cards,” she said.

She began to listen to the pitch. But when they asked for her Medicare number, Eilers knew she was going to be scammed.

Zulfiqar Ramzan works for Aura, which provides anti-theft services.

What are scammers looking for?

He says there are two main motivators for Medicare fraud.

The first is money. He said the scammers want financial information, like your credit card number.

“Perhaps even create a sense of urgency in the victim to pay the money to the scammer,” he said. “He might say, ‘By the way, your card is about to expire’ or ‘Here’s a free COVID testing kit. We just need you to pay for shipping.”

The second motivator is getting your Medicare and insurance information to be used in fraudulent schemes.

“For example, can someone get prescription drugs in your name using your insurance information,” he said.

Warning Signs of Fraud

Kathy Soakes, director of fraud prevention programs at AARP, says Medicare will never call you if you don’t start a conversation.

She says hang up if you get a call about:

• Increasing Your Benefits
• Renewing your Medicare card
• Taking Tests to Keep Your Benefits

“They’ll say if you don’t pass this test, they’ll block your Medicare benefits and then use the fear,” Soakes said.

Eilers wants to send a message to his older neighbors: hang up.

“They prey on older people because they know they are more likely to do what they want,” she said.

So you don’t waste your money.

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