How to Handle Medicare Scam Calls

Don’t be fooled by a call from a stranger. Here is how one of our clients was targeted by a Medicare scam — and what to do about it.

An attorney whose office is near ours is a Medicare client of mine. He called in a hurry one day, frustrated: he was getting call after call, every single day, pushing him to sign up for a Medicare plan, and it was disrupting his work. Another client picked up a call from a number she didn’t recognize. A friendly voice said, “This is the customer service center for Medicare Insurance Company A. Your insurance card is about to expire and needs to be renewed right away.” She believed it was her insurer and gave them the information they asked for. In the United States, phone scams targeting Medicare beneficiaries cause hundreds of millions of dollars in losses every year, and the Korean community is no exception.

Why are there so many spam calls?

The answer is simple: it pays too well. Medicare-related improper payments and fraud losses run to roughly $60 billion a year. Robocall technology can place millions of calls a day at almost no cost, and even a 1% success rate produces enormous returns. Most of these operations are based overseas — India and Nigeria among them — which makes investigation and prosecution by U.S. authorities difficult. Medicare beneficiaries aged 65 and older are the most concentrated target: they are comfortable answering the phone and tend to have more assets.

How did they get my phone number?

“How do they even know my number?” is a natural question. But your number has most likely already leaked through several channels. Data broker companies such as Whitepages and Spokeo legally collect and sell names, addresses and phone numbers. Breaches at hospitals, pharmacies and insurers have put the personal information of millions of people into circulation on the dark web. Numbers are also harvested through “free prize” giveaway entries and through personal details left public on Facebook. Scammers even dial numbers sequentially based on an area code.

Want to check how exposed your information is?

At HaveIBeenPwned.com you can search by email address and find out for free which breaches your information turned up in. DeleteMe (joindeleteme.com) will tell you for free how many broker sites have your number listed. And searching your own number on Spokeo.com shows you exactly what a scammer can see about you.

If you get one of these calls, it is 100% a scam

If someone says your Medicare card is about to expire and asks you to confirm your Social Security number, or offers to send you free medical equipment if you will just give them your Medicare number, be suspicious immediately. Medicare cards renew automatically, and official agencies never ask for personal information over the phone. Pressure on the clock — “you can only sign up until 5 p.m. today” — is another classic technique for clouding your judgment.

What to do, and how to get your number removed

If you get a suspicious call, remember three things: hang up immediately, verify directly by calling Medicare’s official number at 1-800-633-4227, and report it to 1-800-447-8477 or reportfraud.ftc.gov. Your single report can stop the next person from becoming a victim.

To reduce how exposed your number is, register at donotcall.gov to block legitimate telemarketing calls, and use a service like DeleteMe or Kanary to request removal of your personal information from data broker sites.

Make sure you also use the free spam-blocking features your carrier provides. AT&T offers ActiveArmor, T-Mobile offers Scam Shield, and Verizon offers Call Filter — all free. Simply not answering numbers you don’t recognize is a good approach too.

Medicare will never ask for your personal information over the phone. Please share this with your parents and with the older neighbors around you. A single call from a stranger can take away a lifetime of savings. If something feels off, just hang up — that is always the best move.

Medicare official inquiries 1-800-633-4227 / Report fraud reportfraud.ftc.gov / Check for data breaches haveibeenpwned.com