Citizen warns of ongoing Medicare scam attempts

A concerned citizen has reported to The Clarion scam callers are currently involved in attempting to gain personal information from Medicare patients in the county.

The citizen said her senior citizen mother has been the victim of repeated calls – at the height, nine calls in one day – with the caller giving very detailed personal information about her mother, and then following up with attempting to gain her Medicare number and other personally identifying information.

“I have made return to calls to the number, and received no answer,” the woman said. “My mother was concerned that they had names of other family members, so I then showed her just how easy it is to gain that information with a simple internet search.”

The senior was at one point threatened “to have her Medicare cancelled if a family member did not call back by noon” of that day.

“I am afraid someone is not going to understand what is going on, and end up giving them this valuable information,” the citizen said.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services stresses on its Web site to protect your Medicare number and Social Security number just as you would a credit card number.

CMS points out, “Medicare will never call you to sell you anything or visit you at your home.”

As well, CMS says Medicare will only call and ask for personal information in two situations:

• A Medicare health or drug plan may call you if you are already a member of the plan. The agent who helped you enroll may also call you.
• A customer service representative from 1-800-MEDICARE may call if you have called and left a message, or a representative said someone would call you back.

As well, CMS advises to never:

• Give your Medicare card or number/Social Security card or number to anyone except your doctor or people you know should have it, such as an insurer or anyone working on your behalf.
• Accept offers of money or gifts for free medical care.
• Allow anyone other than your doctor or other Medicare provider to review your records or recommend services.
• Join a Medicare health or drug plan over the phone unless you first contacted a Medicare representative.

If you suspect you have become the victim of identity theft, contact the Federal Trade Commission at identitytheft.gov

By C. Josh Givens