How to Protect Yourself from Scammers During Medicare’s Open Enrollment

With the Medicare Open Enrollment period closing on December 7, scams have been rampant.

We spoke to Maria Alvarez is the Executive Director of NY StateWide Senior Action Council an organization dedicated to advocacy for the rights of seniors in New York State about how to avoid being scammed.

Scammers often pretend to be from Medicare, or connected to Medicare, to try to steal your money or personal information. They might contact you and say they need your Medicare, bank account, or credit card number for your “new” Medicare card. That’s a scam — Medicare sends its cards to you automatically for free.

Scammers might also say they need your Medicare number for a “medical equipment claim” you don’t remember making. That’s a scam, too. They want to file fake claims using your Medicare number.

Stay clear of these and other Medicare scams during Open Enrollment, and any other time:

Don’t give personal information to someone who contacts you unexpectedly and claims to be from Medicare. Medicare will never unexpectedly call, email, text, or message you on social media to ask for your Medicare, Social Security, or bank account numbers. They also won’t try to sell you anything or tell you to pay for your Medicare card. That’s always a scam.

Don’t trust your caller ID. Your caller ID might show Medicare’s name or phone number. But caller ID can be faked. It could be anyone calling from anywhere in the world.

If you think a call might be real, hang up and call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) to check.

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