PHOENIX — The clock is winding down on Medicare's Open Enrollment period, but scams are ramping up. In Arizona, more than 1.4 million people relied on Medicare in 2023. That means there's a large pool of potential victims for scammers.
John Haraburda is the Director of Product Management at Transaction Network Services. TNS analyzes more than one billion daily calls, helping to identify robocall and scam trends.
There can be some confusion when it comes to signing up for Medicare and Haraburda says scammers often pretend they can offer help.
"Getting a relationship and enabling the consumer to trust the fraudster or spammer to then share data, which then leads to other account takeover activities or identity theft," Haraburda explains.
Scammers may pose as Medicare advisors. Haraburda says callers may pretend to be a Medicare spokesperson helping you pick a plan and figure out what coverage you need in order to get your private information.
Scammers may push supplemental coverage. Haraburda warns callers may act as a sponsor, trying to convince consumers they qualify for additional benefits with massive savings. In reality, the scammers take your info and run.
Haraburda warns Artificial Intelligence is helping these scams become more sophisticated. When you get a scam call, it no longer sounds like a robot, but better imitates a human voice and conversation making consumers lower their guard.
AI poses another concern. Haraburda says automated scam calls may really be a ploy to get hold of a recording of your voice to potentially scam people you know.
"The ability of something to say, 'Can you confirm your name? Can you confirm your information? Do you accept this idea? Yes or no?' And that can become a recording that can be used by an AI bot, to now do personal impersonation attacks on behalf of that individual," said Haraburda.
Take steps to protect yourself:
- Treat your Medicare card like a credit card. Only give out information if you contacted Medicare or to your doctors and providers for care.
- Contact your local Senior Medicare Patrol Office if a call feels suspicious before giving out information.
- Trust your gut. If you don't know a number, let it go to voicemail and if a call seems suspicious - hang up!
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