Medicare Card Scam, It's Back
By an edhat reader
The Medicare replacement card scam is once again happening. This morning, I had a call supposedly from Medicare telling me that my replacement card is ready to be sent out. They knew my full name and address, and the fact that I am of the correct age group for qualification. But then the caller asked me to read the number out on the card “for verification purposes”.
If the call was genuine, they would know the number already, but the heavily accented voice insisted the call was genuine and even said they were calling from the 1-800 number for Medicare. (Clearly they were unaware of caller ID, which showed me that the call was actually coming from a local number).
“But we do not have permission to read the number to you, so please verify the number – read it out to me, once digit at a time”. I said that I would gladly give them permission, and why don’t you read it to me, since you initiated this call? She was getting a little testy by then, and it occurred to me that many recipients – most of whom are elderly and unaware of the scammers’ tactics – would have complied by now, thereby giving these thieves access to their identity, often with catastrophic financial results.
So I wanted to spread the word among the local community: watch out for these calls. The vast majority of these callers operate from call centers in Mumbai or New Delhi. Your name and address and age are relatively easy to ascertain from online sources, but don’t let that fool you into believing that the call is from a legitimate authority. If you do have genuine concerns about your Medicare membership, make the call yourself to the correct number (1-800-MEDICARE or 1-800-633-4227). These callers are persistent and won’t give up, so stay vigilant, stay safe and spread the word!
5 Comments
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May 05, 2022 11:27 PMTHANK YOU to the poster!
I don't answer calls from unknown numbers. Real callers tend to leave a message.
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May 06, 2022 06:43 AMFrom the Medicare site:
"Remember that Medicare will never call you to sell you anything or visit you at your home. Medicare, or someone representing Medicare, will only call and ask for personal information in these 2 situations: A Medicare health or drug plan may call you if you're already a member of the plan."
When in doubt, tell them to send you a notice in the mail (but don't give them your address!).
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May 06, 2022 07:16 AMWhat would they do with the Medicare info once they got it? It isn't like getting credit card info where something can be purchased.
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May 06, 2022 08:10 AMI would like to answer your question. I worked in this area in the past. "What would they do with the Medicare info once they got it? It isn't like getting credit card info where something can be purchased." These scammer work with someone or an organization that have the ability to bill Medicare. As we learned over time that not all Doctor offices or other Medicare providers are legitimate. They bill Medicare and can make millions of dollars. It can be better than a credit card because very few people go online and check their Medicare bills. In addition the scammer can often change how Medicare contacts you so you will not know this happened to you for sometime.
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May 06, 2022 08:31 AMCram, Thanks for that information. I had no idea of how inventive the crooks of this world are.