Fraud Alerts

Measure Would Remove Beneficiaries' Social Security Numbers From Medicare Cards
United States- Aug, 2008
Legislation (HR 6600) recently introduced in the House would remove beneficiaries' Social Security numbers from Medicare cards to help prevent identity theft, CQ HealthBeat reports. The measure, introduced by Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), would require that Medicare remove, code or embed beneficiaries' Social Security numbers in their cards.

According to a release from Doggett, other than Social Security cards, the Medicare card is the most commonly issued government document displaying a person's Social Security number. The measure is in response to a May report from the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General that recommended Social Security numbers be removed from Medicare cards, according to the release. Doggett in the release said, "Forty-four million Americans carry in their wallet or purse something that makes them needlessly more vulnerable to identify theft -- it's their Medicare card," adding, "Their savings and credit should not be put at risk if someone steals their Medicare card" (Naresh, CQ HealthBeat, 8/8).

United States- October, 2007
CA lady from Lake Charles, LA left a message to inquire about where she needed to send her bank statement and insurance policy #’s after receiving a call from someone who stated they were from the Medicare office. She was planning to send this information and by chance she called the concerns fraud line and talked with a person who informed her that this was likely a scam and not to send anything - Medicare will not ask for this information. The scammers are active. Be sure to protect yourself!

United States - June, 2007
JURY DUTY SCAM: This has been verified by the FBI (their link is also included below). It is spreading fast so be prepared should you get this call.   Most of us take summons for jury duty seriously, but enough people skip out on their civic duty, that a new and ominous kind of scam has surfaced.
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Bismarck, ND - May 2007
North Dakota Insurance Commissioner Jim Poolman today warned seniors to be aware of abusive and aggressive sales tactics revolving around the marketing of Medicare Advantage plans.

Florida - May, 2007
Federal prosecutors announced the arrest of 38 people in South Florida after a two-month investigation into allegations that they defrauded Medicare for more than $142 million.
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New Hampshire - April, 2007
The caller (“Evelyn”) told the beneficiary she wanted to send her a new Medicare card
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New York - April, 2007
Medicare checks they wanted to hand deliver to beneficiaries
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New Jersey - April, 2007
complaint about an organization called Pharmabay, Inc
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News Clips and Resources - December, 2006
A report from the National Consumer Protection Technical Resource Center in PDF format.
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Fraud Alert in Missouri and Utah - November 30, 2006
Rona McNally, the Project Manager for the Missouri SORT Program received a disturbing phone call on November 29, 2006.
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Florida Medicare Fraud Abuse Reported to Local News: - November 27, 2006
Imagine--being charged thousands of dollars for a wheelchair and you didn't even need one. Well, it's happening... and you may not know it, but taxpayers are paying for it.
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Bottineau, ND - September, 2006
During the week of September 24th through October 4th several Bottineau, North Dakota residents received telephone calls from a person claiming to be a Medicare representative.
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