Identification Theft Alert

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has received reports of several scams targeting Medicare beneficiaries. In one such scam, Medicare beneficiaries are contacted by telemarketers, representing themselves as Medicare, who inform beneficiaries that they will lose their Medicare benefits if they don't pay the sum of $359 or another similar amounts. Other telemarketing scams inform beneficiaries that they need to pay a sum of money for coverage, to retain benefits, or to pay for the issuance of a new card. During these calls, telemarketers ask for bank account numbers and other personal information, which allows them to steal not only the sum of money they requested, but the remainder of their bank account as well.

Medicare beneficiaries must remember to guard their Medicare numbers, Social Security numbers, credit card and debit card numbers, bank account numbers, and other personal information from scams like the one described above. If you receive a phone call from someone you do not know asking for personal or banking information, you should not give out any information. If you believe that you are the victim of identity theft, they you should file a police report with local law enforcement. You can also contact the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) at (877) ID-THEFT or (877) 438-4338 to make a report. For more information about identity theft, you can review the FTC's brochure on the topic at http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/downloads/TalkingAboutIDTheft.pdfAdobe Portable Document Format.

Page Last Updated: Thursday, 26-Apr-2012 12:32:11 CDT