BBB Scam Email (copy)

Last updated on July 5th, 2024 at 03:18 pm

Beware of the Medicare Back Brace Scam

Scammers
often target seniors by pretending to be representatives of insurance
companies or healthcare companies. Recently, the Better Business Bureau
is seeing a new twist on this classic con: calls from “Medicare”
claiming to have your new back brace.

How the Scam Works

You
pick up the phone, and it’s someone pretending to be a Medicare
representative. From there, the con has two typical patterns. The
scammer will either offer you a back brace through Medicare or claim
that a caregiver previously called about receiving a back brace from
Medicare.

If
you show interest in the brace, the scammer will start asking for
personal information, such as your Social Security number or a Medicare
number to access the benefits. Don’t fall for these phony claims, even
if the calls are persistent! The callers offer no company name and may
even hang up on you if you ask for further company information.

Protect Yourself from Healthcare Scams

• Medicare should already have your basic information:

  If Medicare or another governmental organization contacts you, they
  should already have your name, address and other basic info.  A call
  claiming you have been identified for an offer (but doesn’t have your
  name or other information) is probably blasted out to thousands of phone
  numbers.

• Never share your Medicare number with an unsolicited caller. Treat your Medicare number like your credit card info or other personal details. Do not share it with unsolicited callers.
• Check BBB Tips: For more information about healthcare scams, check bbb.org/healthcarescam.

For more information:

For more information about Medicare fraud, check out these resources on Medicare.gov.

To learn more about scams, go to BBB Scam Tips (bbb.org/scamtips). To report a scam, go to BBB Scam Tracker (bbb.org/scamtracker)

         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
       
 
         
Council of Better Business Bureaus, Inc.,  3033 Wilson Blvd, Suite 600, Arlington, VA 22201