Two-thousand-twenty has been, well, crummy. Save yourself from more unnecessary pain and remain wary of scammers, who are now targeting Medicare beneficiaries and holiday shoppers.
“Eligible Medicare beneficiaries have until December 7th to shop for the best deal for their healthcare dollar,” notes Sean Voskuhl, AARP Oklahoma State Director. Such folks need to be mindful of scammers offering illegitimate deals. Voskuhl says, “Scammers don’t care who you are or where you are from.”
“They want to take advantage of whoever will fall for their trap,” Voskuhl says. “Like in other years, Medicare scams spike during open enrollment season with scammers posing as insurance providers, calling and emailing about free gifts or limited-time offers.”
Voskuhl tells rural and urban residents alike to “be suspicious of anyone who calls, emails, or visits you promoting a Medicare plan.”
“Legitimate health plans can only contact you if you’ve requested information, Don’t give personal information to anyone who calls or visits out of the blue and review your Medicare or explanation of benefits statement to ensure fraudulent charges aren’t included,” Voskuhl says.
Scammers may also target holiday shoppers, who look to online stores for safety and convenience. Voskuhl encourages folks to pay close attention to URLs, when shopping online.
“Scammers are targeting online shoppers with fake websites that look like they are from legitimate retailers like Amazon or Target. Fraudsters make small changes to the spelling of the names in the URL, so be vigilant when shopping online,” Voskuhl says. “Once your packages are delivered, don’t leave them on your porch unattended. Porch pirates are lurking nearby for the opportunity to snatch them.”
