The phone rings and it is about your Medicare. A new card is coming. Your plan needs reviewing. There is a free brace or test kit waiting. All they need is your Medicare number to get it started. These calls rise every autumn, because that is when plans really do change. Here is the simple rule that sorts the real from the fake.
“This is the Medicare Benefits Center. New plastic cards are being issued this year and yours is on hold. I just need to confirm the number on your current card so we can release it.”
There is no Medicare Benefits Center. Medicare does not call to confirm your number.
How to tell
They called you. Medicare does not phone people out of the blue asking for your number.
They ask you to confirm the number on your card. Real Medicare already has it.
Something free is offered: a brace, a test kit, a genetic screening. The offer is bait for the number.
They say your card is being replaced. Cards are not reissued this way, and never for a fee.
They push you to decide on the call. Every real Medicare decision can wait a day.
What to do
1Hang up. It is not rude. It is the correct response to a call you did not make.
2Call Medicare yourself at 1-800-633-4227. That number is on your card and on medicare.gov.
3Treat your Medicare number like a credit card number. Give it to your own doctor and nobody who calls you.
4During autumn open enrollment, compare plans at medicare.gov or by calling that same number. Never through someone who rang you.
If you already clicked or paid
First: don’t blame yourself, and don’t hide it. Acting quickly matters more than anything else.
If you gave out your number, call 1-800-633-4227 and tell them. They can watch the account for false claims.
Check your Medicare Summary Notice when it arrives, for anything you did not receive.
Report it at reportfraud.ftc.gov. Medicare fraud is investigated seriously.
You have not lost your coverage by answering a phone call. This is fixable, and reporting it is the fix.
Worth remembering: Medicare will not call you for your number. If someone rings asking for it, that alone is the answer.