Scammers stealing Medicare information during pandemic
Scammers are increasingly attempting to use the pandemic to steal medicare information and other personal data from seniors, who can be especially vulnerable during the pandemic. For more, we spoke with Nicole Blue, an advisor with Devoted Health AZ’s Medicare Benefits.
Previously, Medicare beneficiaries’ number was linked to their social security number. In order to further prevent scams, Medicare began to mail out Medicare ID cards with a unique ID number that wasn’t associated to a Medicare number or social security number in 2019. However, people are still scamming seniors and obtaining their social security numbers.
“We are still hearing about these scams happening and unfortunately, I expect we will continue to see them for the unforeseeable future,” Blue said.
Tips for preventing scams
- Medicare will not call you without warning or spontaneously
- Medicare will not ask for your social security number
- If someone calls claiming they are Medicare, hang up. You can reach out to Medicare directly to see if anyone was trying to reach you
- If you think fraud is happening, file a complaint with the Inspector General
