Your New Medicare Card Could Lead to a Scam

The U.S. government began changing the information that Medicare cards contain, and not a moment too soon. Ever since the program was created in 1965, Medicare’s familiar red-white-and-blue paper identification contained the beneficiaries’ Social Security numbers. Even handing your card over in a doctor’s office or pharmacy could lead to identity theft and fraud, let alone the consequences if you lost your wallet or purse.

Now, Medicare cards contain a unique patient identifier number. The administration allowed itself a calendar year to make the switch, and they’re about halfway through the process of issuing new cards to all of the beneficiaries. If you don’t receive your new card by April 2019, contact the Medicare agency for an update.

Wouldn’t it be nice if identity thieves and scammers simply thought, “Gee, guess I can’t steal SSNs anymore!” and threw in the towel? Instead, they’ve come up with new ways to take advantage of their victims, especially those who currently possess one of the new cards.

First, some scams have centered around the cards themselves. Claims from a phone caller that you need to verify your identity, activate your card, pay a fee to upgrade your paper card to a (non-existent) plastic card, or other similar stories are completely false.

Other scams have involved “matching” your identity to your card. A caller claiming to be from the Medicare agency checks to see if you’ve received your new card. If not, they ask for your Social Security number to make sure you’re still covered and receiving benefits. If you have received it, they ask for your SSN to match your patient identifier number to your account and make sure you’re covered. In either case, it’s not true.

One of the more outrageous scams involves your bank account info. This version claims that you have to move all the money out of your current bank account to a temporary “safe” account to avoid scammers who’ve targeted you as a Medicare recipient. Providing your account info obviously leads to the caller draining your bank account.

There are some things to keep in mind about the scams associated with these new cards:

1.You can provide your SSN to receive medical care—even if you’ve received your new card—through December 2019. There’s nothing you need to do to “extend” your coverage or move it over to your new card

2.Your new card is completely free, despite claims that you have to pay a $25 fee to get it; no, you cannot upgrade to a plastic card instead of paper, either.

3.Never verify your identifying information or account information to anyone who contacts you. They called you, remember? They should already have it, and a legitimate caller would never ask you to provide it.

Read next: “Are Scammers Trying to Give You Money?”