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You may get a phone call from someone asking whether you’ve received your new Medicare card yet. “Typically, the scammer has found or purchased enough information about the beneficiary to …

tell the individual their date of birth, address and other information,” says Kim McKenna, Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP) coordinator for the Washington State Office of the Insurance

Commissioner. As the scammer sounds credible, victims engage with them, giving away personal financial information in addition to their Medicare details. McKenna’s office fields several 

calls a month from victims. Even Medicare specialists get these calls: Tatiana Fassieux, training and education specialist for California Health Advocates and the state’s SMP, said someone

pretending to be from Medicare asked her for personal information in order to send a new card. Scammers may use your Medicare number to make fake claims, typically for medical equipment,

genetic testing kits, diabetic supplies or deceptive hospice enrollments, says Rose Morales, a SMP fraud investigative analyst with California Health Advocates. Video: Avoid Medicare Card

Scams They take advantage of the fact that Medicare beneficiaries typically don’t receive a bill if Medicare and a supplemental policy cover the full cost, so victims may not even become

aware of the fraud until services they didn’t receive appear on their quarterly summary notice or find their some of their claims denied. These type of scams, as well as errors and abuse,

cause Medicare to lose an estimated $60 billion a year. HOW MEDICARE SCAMS WORK Here are a few of the most common scams: THEY OFFER A NEW CARD. Criminals pretend to be from Medicare and

tell beneficiaries that they will be receiving a new Medicare card with a chip or one that is plastic instead of paper, which don’t actually exist (Medicare cards are paper and don’t have a

chip). They may even say the new card comes with additional benefits, such as a gift card. “The scammer will say they just need to confirm the Medicare ID and other personal information. In

some cases, they tell the person they just need to provide banking account information to make sure they can continue paying their premiums,” McKenna says.