Scams are getting bolder, so ramping up our campaigns to warn and protect beneficiaries of such scams is of increasing importance.
One recent scam reported last week by the Health Insurance Counseling & Advocacy Program (HICAP) in Chico was of a local woman who received a call from a Mr. Davis with the IRS. Mr. Davis said there was a pending lawsuit against her. The call came from 202-223-0880, and appeared to be from Washington, D.C.
The supposed IRS representative wanted to give this woman information about the “lawsuit” and asked a few questions. He said the lawsuit involved a contractor. Yet, luckily the woman challenged the caller and said she wanted everything sent by mail. He said he would send a fax to the local county offices, and then hung up. This woman then called her local HICAP office to report this scam.
When searching this phone number on the Internet, HICAP found it to have many reports similar to this one.
This scam provides yet another opportunity to remind beneficiaries and their families that these types of calls are bogus and are a way to fraudulently obtain personal information, such as Social Security or bank account numbers, even Medicare numbers. We urge seniors to never give information to callers of this nature.
If you receive a suspicious call, get as much information as possible, such as a name and telephone number and nature of the call, and then report it to our Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP) office at 1-855-613-7080. We will report it to the appropriate local and federal authorities. You can also call the police and event the local district attorney’s office.
See our Medicare fraud section for more info on fraud, abuse and recent scams.
This blog is edited from the article, Seniors: Remain Vigilant to Avoid Scams.
