Fraud Alerts

"Grant" Fraud Alert

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) is alerting the public to the latest scheme to defraud the government and steal money from the American people.

This scheme involves contact (by phone, email or letter) from someone pretending to be from a government agency, such as the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS). Although the precise message may vary, the caller or writer provides his or her name and a fake employee ID, and then typically tells you that you will receive "government grant money" as an incentive for paying taxes on time. The caller will then ask for personal or financial information, such as a Social Security number or bank account number. The caller may also ask you to send a check or wire transfer to cover a "processing fee."

If you receive such a call, hang up immediately! If you receive such an email or letter in the mail, do not respond! Call 1-800-HHS-TIPS (1-800-447-8477; TTY 1-800-377-4950) or email the HHS fraud hotline at HHSTips@oig.hhs.gov

Remember: do not respond to these criminal schemes. Alert others about this scheme, and remind teenagers and children living in your household not to provide strangers with family or personal information.

Be smart. Do not respond to this and other schemes that try to obtain your personal information. If you receive such a call or message, call 1-800-HHS-TIPS or contact another law enforcement agency

Obama Care Scam

The recently passed health care reform has older adults looking at how the newly passed legislation may affect their Medicare or other health care coverage. However, it is also providing a perfect opportunity for new scams to appear telling Medicare beneficiaries that they have to make changes in their health care policy. “Obama Care” is a fictitious policy that scammers claim is required by health care reform, even for those on Medicare.
To encourage individuals to enroll into Obama Care or similar universal care policies, scammers may claim there is a limited time to enroll and if one does not take advantage of this enrollment period they will no longer have health care coverage after a certain date. After collecting an older adult’s personal information, including their Medicare number and bank account information, the victim will soon find that while they did not lose their health care coverage, they lost much of what was in their bank account. 
Scammers are also using the health care overhaul's fix to the "doughnut hole" in the Medicare prescription-drug program as a device to steal. This year, the law provides beneficiaries with $250 once they hit the coverage gap in the drug program. Scammers are calling and identifying themselves as being with the government. The beneficiary is told they are going to be receiving their $250 -- all that is needed at this time from the beneficiary is their bank account number.
Older people are popular targets. They are generally more polite and will listen to a salesperson. They're also less likely to report being scammed out of embarrassment, or fear that their independence might be taken away.

Remember, there is no government health insurance program called Obama Care, and federal employees aren't out selling it door-to-door or by telephone. If you already have Medicare, you'll be notified by mail if there are any necessary changes. If you have any questions, call Medicare to double-check. If you don't have Medicare yet, but receive a phone call, or something in the mail saying you need to buy a special policy, call your own insurance company to ask if there are any changes you need to know about.  

To keep up with the new health-care changes, you can read the reports at healthreform.gov.

To report a potential scam or if you have been the victim of a scam, call the ND Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP). ND SMP is a free service which provides one-on-one assistance with Medicare fraud and scams. Call 1-800-233-1737 for assistance or go to www.ndcpd.org/smp.

Resources:  The Pickens Sentinel and McClatchy Newspaper

Other Healthcare Reform Scams

Callers telling beneficiaries they need to re-register for Medicare in order to be qualified for healthcare reform and asking for personal information.

Reports of insurance agents doing cold calls saying beneficiaries need to change benefit plans, supplemental insurance due to health reform. Report these calls to your insurance regulators and/or attorney general.