Medicare will soon roll out new Medicare Health Insurance cards to all seniors. The new cards are designed to help prevent identity theft by removing one specific piece of information – Social Security numbers. Identity thieves are aware of this change and are currently scrambling to obtain as many Social Security numbers and other personal information from seniors as possible before the release date. Scammers stealing Social Security numbers from Medicare recipients
Instead of Social Security numbers, the new cards will use unique Medicare numbers to identify cardholders. The new Medicare number is only useful for Medicare purposes and is useless to criminals looking to steal someone’s identity. Criminals are scrambling to call as many seniors as possible before the new cards are issued, and you may soon find one of these scammers on the phone with you.
Some scammers begin the call with a pleasant or neutral tone. They will say they’re from Medicare or an organization related to Medicare and may inform callers about the upcoming changes to Medicare cards. Callers will then ask seniors for personal information, including Social Security numbers, to receive new cards. The caller may also ask seniors to pay a fee related to the new Medicare cards. If the Medicare recipient refuses to provide personal information or pay the fee over the phone, the caller’s tone will take a dramatic turn for the worse.
When a Medicare recipient doesn’t provide the information or fee requested by the scammer, the scammer may become aggressive, rude, or even hostile. The caller may bully, intimidate and even threaten to terminate the Medicare recipient’s benefits unless the senior gives the caller exactly what he or she wants. Don’t fall for it.
Nobody is going to call you from Medicare to ask for any personal information related to your new card. Anybody who calls you asking for personal information to receive your new card is a scammer. When Medicare rolls out the new cards, you do notneed to do anything to receive it. Medicare will automatically send you a new card in the mail. Until then, stay alert for telephone calls from people masquerading as officials from Medicare, and hang up on anyone asking for your personal information or to pay a fee for your new card.
Keep this in mind – you are not obligated to endure unwelcome treatment or talk to anyone over the phone unless you want to. If someone is rude, hostile, or otherwise unpleasant toyou over the phone, hang up. If someone is pushing you into giving up your personal information over the phone, hang up. Your phone belongs to you, not the caller. If you’re ever uncomfortable with speaking to the caller, hang up the phone. Hanging up your phone is your best line of defense against an unwelcome caller.
For more information on the new Medicare Health Insurance card, go to:https://www.medicare.gov/newcard/
Scammers stealing Social Security numbers from Medicare recipients
Scammers stealing Social Security numbers from Medicare recipients Scammers stealing Social Security numbers from Medicare recipients Scammers stealing Social Security numbers from Medicare recipients Scammers stealing Social Security numbers from Medicare recipients Scammers stealing Social Security numbers from Medicare recipients Scammers stealing Social Security numbers from Medicare recipients Scammers stealing Social Security numbers from Medicare recipients Scammers stealing Social Security numbers from Medicare recipients
