By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
It didn’t take long for Barbara Hornaman to understand that the strangers calling her phone incessantly were trying to scam her.
In recent days, the longtime Sitkan has received numerous calls from people pretending to represent Medicare and insisting that she pay money or lose her coverage.
“Last Friday morning from 11 a.m. until 12:30 p.m., I received seven calls. What they wanted was me to give them $91.50 for the new plastic Medicare card… I had four (calls) between Friday and Monday. I called Social Security. It took me three (toll free) numbers that either didn’t work or had been changed, and I finally got ahold of a person,” Hornaman said Tuesday. “And she told me that 80 percent of her calls yesterday morning had been about the scam. There is no plastic Medicare card.”
Susan Briles, SEARHC patient health benefits manager, works in her office this morning. (Sentinel Photo)
Hornaman, who is retired and has been on Medicare for about a decade, didn’t give the scammers any money or identifying information.
While Hornaman was able to see through the ruse, her experience wasn’t an isolated incident.
At SEARHC, patient health benefits manager Susan Briles has fielded an increasing volume of calls about attempted scams, and the plastic Medicare card is the one she’s heard the most about lately.
“The first and most important thing is people should never, ever give their Medicare number, their Social Security number – any personal information like that should never be given over the phone unless you know exactly who you’re talking to.”
Briles was emphatic:
There is “no reason for anyone to call you about your Medicare coverage, there is no legitimate reason.”
In the past month, Briles said she’s received about 15 calls from Sitkans regarding Medicare scam calls.
“It’s definitely on an uptick,” she said.
In Hornaman’s case, the scammers demanded $91.50.
“The thing is, most of this is going to affect senior citizens. And like myself, if I paid $91.50 to get a new card, so they don’t cancel my Medicare within three days, then I’m either going to have to eat Top Ramen for a week or, if I could, go out and get a job. But who’s going to hire somebody over 65?”
The Medicare scam calls originated from area codes in North and South Dakota, Texas and Arizona. However, phone numbers can be “spoofed” to falsify caller identification and obscure the true origin of the call.
The problem is part of a larger trend and has been noticed by Medicare itself. On Tuesday, Alaska’s Medicare Information Office warned against scam calls.
“Scammers may use different tactics to steal your money or identity,” the office said in an email. “Some callers indicate your Medicare card has been compromised and they need to send you a new card. Some claim the new card has a microchip like credit cards or is a new plastic Medicare card. They may even request payment for the new Medicare card, ask you to ‘verify’ your Medicare or Social Security number, and/or ask for the name of your family member or primary care doctor. If successful, these thieves can steal your money or use your personal information to file false Medicare claims, fill prescriptions, or sell your information to other fraudsters.”
Like Briles, the Medicare office emphasized that Medicare will not cold-call its beneficiaries.
“Medicare will never call you uninvited to request personal or private information in order for you to get your Medicare number and/or new card. Any major communications from Medicare come through the postal mail, that includes when new cards are issued. If someone calls you claiming to be from Medicare, hang up, even if the caller ID says they’re calling from Medicare. Any phone number can be ‘spoofed.’” the email warns.
Hornaman was perturbed that the targets of the scam are some of Alaska’s most vulnerable people.
“One of my pet peeves are liars, and I know these guys are, so they kind of ruffle my dander,” she said. “I still am blessed with having good hearing, but people who aren’t, older people that don’t have great hearing, (might) not understand at all what’s going on.”
Briles asks anyone who gets a scam Medicare call to contact her at 907-966-8662. The Alaska Medicare office asks people to hang up on scammers and call 1-800-633-4227.
“Any call concerning Medicare, you should immediately be very wary about what’s going on. I would much rather have these people call me and say, ‘Do you think this is legitimate?’ rather than trying to figure it out on their own,” she said.
While scam calls have been lighting up Sitka phones in recent days, not all Medicare information is fraudulent, Briles noted. Open enrollment for Medicare Part D, prescription drug coverage, begins next month.
“Medicare open enrollment is October 15 through December 7… What we do have is Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage,” Briles said. “So from October 15 to December 7, people should be calling us here at Patient Health Benefits to review their prescription drug plans.”
Those interested in open enrollment for Medicare should call 907-966-8684. The program is open to those over 65 and those with disabilities. For other Alaskans, open enrollment for the Affordable Care Act begins November 1.
