At this time, there is little we can do to stop these criminals from faking their phone number on caller ID. However, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and telephone service providers are working on a plan to ensure technical checks and phone call authentication by June 2021.
In the meantime, if you receive a call from someone indicating they are a Medicare representative or from any other reputed organization, here are some steps you can take:
- Keep your cool. Scammers will use threats and scare tactics to get you to respond. Legitimate organizations will not do this.
- Never give out sensitive information over the phone.
- Hang up and return the call to the organization at a published phone number such as what they post on their website. Do not call them back at the number that they called you from unless you’ve confirmed it is valid from a reputable source.
- If you think you’ve been victimized by fraud, contact the legitimate organization and ask for help with their fraud reporting process.
- You can report Medicare imposters at 1.800.MEDICARE and/or gov/complaint.
Please remember, a Medicare representative will call and ask for personal information only when:
- If you are already a member of a Medicare health or drug plan. The agent who helped you join may also call on you.
- If you’ve called 1.800.MEDICARE and left a message to have a representative return your call.
If you receive a phone call like this, please hang up and do not provide any information. If you believe you may have disclosed information in what you suspect may be a spoofed call, please contact us at 800.541.0006 so we can assist with protecting your accounts and your identity.
You can find additional information at ftc.gov/imposters and medicare.gov.