Medicare Scams Have Arrived in Boca Grande
Scams are nothing new, from emails to send donations to Ethiopian princes, to fake calls from a family member in peril, nearly one in six Americans have lost money to a phone scam in the last 12 months, according to the 2019 U.S. Spam and Scam Report.
Boca Grande residents are no stranger to scam calls, either. Kathy Hawkins and her mother both received phone calls asking for Medicare information to either add a chip and, or to replace and receive a new card. Hawkins and her mother did then right thing. They hung up, did their research and contacted the Boca Beacon.
According to the Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Information, “If someone calls claiming to be from Medicare, asking for your Social Security number, bank information, or other information to get your new card, that’s a scam. Hang up. Medicare will never ask you to give personal information to get your new Medicare number and card.”
Here are 10 common phone scams currently making the rounds.
- Threatening calls from the IRS.
- Technical support calls.
- Fake charity appeals.
- Lottery scams.
- Family members in peril.
- Bank fraud calls.
- Insurance, health care and debt scams.
- Website password requests.
- Fake customer requests.
- Other urgent requests.
Phone scammers are evolving and getting better at stealing people’s money and identity. Hawkins said, “They had a lot of personal information.”
The best piece of advice when receiving a suspicious call is to hang up ,call the appropriate authorities and, if you’re amenable, to call the Boca Beacon and let us know about your encounter so we can help others.
