New Medicare card brings new scam to Lee County

The Lee County Sheriff’s Office is reminding local Medicare recipients to be on the alert for scammers calling mobile phones and landlines with false claims from a Medicare “imposter” attempting to verify the number on their newly received Medicare card.

As Lee County residents continue to receive these replacement cards, the Sheriff’s Office Fraud Line has seen an uptick in complaints from beneficiaries reporting a variety of scam attempts in order to obtain Personally Identifying Information. In some cases, the fraudster has reportedly confirmed the complainants name, address and date of birth, making it appear the call is legitimate.

Here are a few things you should know to help protect yourself from becoming a victim of this scam:

1. There is nothing you need to do to receive your new Medicare card. If you are a current
   beneficiary, you will automatically receive the card in the mail with your new Medicare
   Beneficiary Identifier (MBI) made up of 11 letters and numbers.
2. Medicare will not call you to confirm you received your new card or ask you to update your information in order to get a new card.
3. Medicare will not call you and ask you to provide your personal banking information, your health information or your social security number.
4. Do not be fooled by Caller ID. Scammers will “spoof” phone numbers in order to make it look like the call is coming from a local number or even a real Medicare number. Hang up immediately should anyone call you claiming to be Medicare, no matter what your Caller ID says.

If you have already disclosed personal information such as your social security number to a
fraudulent “Medicare” representative, there are certain steps you can take to protect yourself from identity theft. For more information, call the Lee County Sheriff’s Office Fraud Line at 258-3892.