The call sounds official. The person on the other end says there is a problem with your Medicare account — your card has been flagged, your benefits are at risk, or a new card is being issued and they just need to verify your information. They speak with confidence and urgency. And none of it is real.
What These Calls Actually Want
Scammers posing as Medicare representatives are after one or more of the following: your Medicare Beneficiary Identifier number (the number on your red, white, and blue Medicare card), your Social Security number, your bank account or routing number, or a credit card number to "process" a replacement card.
Once they have any one of those, they can commit medical identity fraud — billing Medicare for services you never received, using your identity to open accounts, or selling your information to other fraud networks.
The FTC received more than 2.6 million fraud reports in 2023, and impersonation scams — including Medicare fraud — rank among the most reported categories affecting adults 60 and older.
The Rule to Know
Medicare does not make unsolicited calls asking for your personal information. Medicare will not call you out of the blue to update your account, warn you of a problem, or process a new card. If you did not initiate the call, Medicare is not calling you.
Legitimate Medicare contact typically comes by mail. If you have a genuine concern about your Medicare account, call Medicare directly at 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227). Do not call back a number the original caller left for you.
What to Do When the Call Comes
Hang up. You do not owe the caller an explanation or a polite goodbye. Hang up immediately. Then, if you believe you may have shared information before realizing it was a scam, call Medicare at 1-800-MEDICARE and report the call to the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov.
Tell the people around you. Adult children, neighbors, and friends are often the second line of defense when someone has already picked up the phone. Sharing what these calls sound like is one of the most useful things you can do for the people you care about.
You are not required to be polite to someone trying to steal from you. Hang up.
With care,
Mike Bridges
Founder, The O55 Report