Medicare Card Scam

An administrator with the state’s Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection warns Senior Citizens to watch out for possible scams connected to a change in Medicare cards. Frank Frassetto says a newer version of Medicare cards is replacing the old ones. He says the new version does not include the Social Security numbers. He says instead they will have Medicare beneficiary identifiers that will be used for billing and for checking your eligibility and claim status. Frassetto says scammers will use the transition period for their own benefit. He says if someone calls claiming to be with Medicare and asks for your Social Security number or bank information; hang up on them because it is a scam. He says scammers may ask you to pay for your new card which is free or threaten to cancel your benefits if you don’t give them information or money. He says that too is a scam and should be reported.  The replacement of Medicare cards is gradual and will take until April of 2019 to complete.