Unwanted Help at Home: In another scam, one or more scammers, usually wearing white lab coats, show up at people’s homes and introduce themselves as workers for the local health clinic. They say that they are making home visits to seniors in the community to make sure that people are receiving the medical care they need.

These scammers say that their services are free. The scammers then offer to take the senior’s temperature, pulse and blood pressure and suggest that more tests are needed. Again they say that the services are absolutely free and they offer to take the person to the clinic for the necessary tests. The scammers arrange for a time to pick the person up and ask for the beneficiary’s Medicare number.

No one ever appears to take the senior to the clinic. Since the scammers had the Medicare number, they bill Medicare for a clinic visit, various tests and often for an ambulance trip.
Scam Prevention Tip: Never give personal information such as your Medicare or Medicaid numbers or Social Security number to someone whom you do not know or to someone from a business with which you are not familiar.

Medicare Records Scam: Someone is calling people in the Mid-West claiming to be a government Medicare records reviewer. The caller states that he has reviewed the beneficiary’s Medicare account. The beneficiary has not used all of his Medicare benefits and is due a refund. The caller asks the beneficiary to verify his Medicare number. After receiving the Medicare number, the caller states that the beneficiary is indeed due a refund of $399. The caller then asks the beneficiary for his bank account number so that they may direct deposit the refund into his account.

Scam Prevention Tip: Never give out personal information such as your Medicare number or bank account number over the phone. The government or banks will never call you and ask you to provide this information over the phone.

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Jury Duty Calls! The phone rings, you pick it up and the caller identifies himself as an officer of the court. He says you failed to report for jury duty and that a warrant is out for your arrest. You say you never received a notice. To clear it up, the caller says he’ll need some information for “verification purposes”—your birth date, social security number and maybe even a credit card number.

This is when you should hang up the phone. It’s a scam. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) says that as a rule, court officers never ask for confidential information over the phone—they generally correspond with potential jurors via mail.
The FBI also says that this scam’s bold simplicity is what makes it so effective. Facing the unexpected threat of arrest, victims are caught off guard and may be quick to part with some information to ease the situation. When the scammer dangles an easy solution—paying a fine by credit card—the victim complies to avoid the presumed charges.

Scam Prevention Tip: Always be on guard for calls from people claiming to be government officials. The government won’t pressure you into giving personal information over the phone. If you feel pressured in any situation—on the phone, through e-mail or with people at your door—always take a step back until you can think clearly. Then, if you are still not sure what to do, get a second opinion. Call a trusted friend, family member or the NC-FH AAA and describe the encounter to them. Remember, “two heads are often better than one.”