Watch Out for COVID-19 Scams (Spanish)
In Spanish, this short PSA provides a quick overview of COVID-19 scams, how to protect yourself and where to report them. Call our California Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP) if you come across any of these scams at 1-855-613-7080.
Continue to Guard Your Card!
You can help protect yourself and the Medicare program from health care fraud by guarding your Medicare card like a credit card, checking your Medicare claims summary forms for errors, and being wary of unsolicited requests for your Medicare number. Remember that Medicare will never call you to ask for or check your Medicare numbers.
Report any suspicious scams to our Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP) at 1-855-613-7080.
New Medicare Card Scam PSA
Below is a 30 sec public service announcement about avoiding new Medicare card scams. For some background, new Medicare cards will start being mailed to beneficiaries in April 2018. The cards will have new identification numbers not linked to Social Security numbers as a way to help prevent fraud and protect people from ID theft.
Yet, as with any new change, scammers like to take advantage of possible confusion. Beware of scammers asking to verify your Medicare number and/or asking for money to mail your new card. Medicare will never call asking for your number; they already have it and the new cards are sent free of charge.
Please report any suspicious scams to our Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP) at 1-855-613-7080.
Medicare Back Brace Scams/DME Scams PSAs
Below are two 30-sec and one 60-sec public service announcement (PSA) videos that warn of a common Medicare back brace scam and the importance of guarding your Medicare card. It refers people to our California Senior Medicare Patrol for help and to report fraud. (Note: the 2nd 30-sec PSA has subtitles.)
Below the video PSAs is one 30-sec radio PSA on common durable medical equipment scams. This also refers people to SMP (the national hotline).
30-sec radio PSA on durable medical equipment scams:
Video/TV PSAs
The public services announcements in the left column below are a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration on Aging’s “Stop Health Care Fraud” National Campaign. The 60, 30 and 15 second PSAs featuring the Senior Medicare Patrol will show you how to protect your Medicare number, detect errors by reviewing Medicare summary statements, and report fraud if you suspect it.
Senior Medicare Patrol PSAs
60 seconds / 30 seconds / 15 seconds
Download 30 second version (.mov file)
This 30-second PSA addresses the problem with people’s reluctance to report fraud:
Spanish version
A 30-second Spanish PSA from the National Hispanic Senior Medicare Patrol (NHSMP):
