Don’t give your Medicare number to a caller who claims to be from Medicare

On Wednesday, I received a call from woman who indicated she was from Medicare and she wanted to know if I’d received my new Medicare card.

After turning off the radio so I could hear her better, I said I’d received a new card several years ago when Medicare numbers were changed from Social Security numbers to random numbers.

She said that’s now an old number, and I should go and get my card so I could give her the number.

I replied that her request sounded strange and asked if was this some kind of scam.

She hung up.

Later, I thought I should have played along and given her a fake number to see what the scam was.

However, I had a Zoom meeting in a few minutes and I was anxious to be on time.

What the scammers are after

A data exposure took place in May 2023 of Medicare administrative contractors. The exposed information included names, Social Security numbers/taxpayer identification numbers, dates of birth, mailing addresses, hospital account numbers, dates of service, Medicare beneficiary identifiers or MBIs, and health insurance claim numbers.

States affected included Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, and Nebraska.

Beneficiaries whose MBI were exposed, about 1 million people, received a new number from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services or CMS.

The scam is the scammers know about these new cards so they’re say that they want to confirm that you have the right one.

Don’t give them any information. Hang up right away.

How to avoid scams

Here are tips from CMS:

Don’t:

• Share your Medicare number or other personal information with anyone who contacts you by phone, email, or in person, unless you contacted them first and gave them permission to contact you. If someone calls and asks for your information, for money, or threatens to cancel your health benefits, hang up and call 800-633-4227 or online go to Report Medicare Fraud. If you have a Medicare Advantage Plan or Medicare drug plan you can also call the Investigations Medicare Drug Integrity Contractor at 877-772-3379.
• Give your Medicare card, Medicare number, Social Security card, or Social Security number to anyone except your doctor or people you know should have it such as insurers acting on your behalf or people who work with Medicare or your State Health Insurance Assistance Program.
• Allow anyone, except your doctor or other Medicare providers, to review your medical records or recommend services.
• Join a Medicare health or drug plan over the phone unless you called CMS.

Do:

• Protect your Medicare number and your Social Security number.
• Guard your Medicare card like it’s a credit card.
• Check the receipts and statements you get from providers for mistakes, and call your provider’s office if you think a charge is incorrect.
• 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 limited situations: (1) A Medicare health or drug plan may call you if you’re already a member of the plan. The agent who helped you join can also call you. (2) A customer service representative from 800-MEDICARE can call you if you’ve called and left a message or a representative said that someone would call you back. (3) If you filed a report of suspected fraud, you may get a call from someone representing Medicare to follow up on the status of your report.

Remember, an alert, informed consumer is the best protection against fraud.