New Medicare Card Coming, New Scam Here

New Medicare Cards to Be Issued to Combat Fraud Has Fraudsters Scrambling with New Scam

With identity theft on the rise particularly with those 65 years and older, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will be mailing new Medicare cards to its 58 million current recipients. The current Medicare cards come printed with a Medicare claim number on the front that happens to be the recipient's (or their deceased loved one's) social security number. The new cards will no longer display the social security numbers. That's great, right? Well, yes.. but scammers have already upped the ante on their game. 

For decades, fraudsters have been able to access this important identifying information easily by just looking at, handling or stealing the card. Since Medicare's new card makes it harder for fraudsters to steal the recipient's identity, the scammers have changed their tactics.  Beware of people calling or presenting false claims that there is a fee involved to get the new Medicare card, and that recipients need to "verify" their Medicare card number or social security number, and pay the fee with their bank card. They may sound and look credible, but all of this is a scam.

The new Medicare cards are free of charge and automatically come to the recipient's home via mail. There is nothing for the recipient to do and no one they need to contact. There is no verification needed. The new cards will feature a randomly assigned Medicare Beneficiary Identifier (MBI) made up of 11 letters and numbers. It is important to note that the Medicare recipient's benefits will not change under the new MBI.  The only thing changing is the appearance of the card.

Roll out for the new Medicare card begins April 2018 and end April 2019. The scammers? They are already on the carpet floor.