That’s an actual email many local seniors are receiving. It may look official, but it is not from Medicare. Messages like this are part of a new scam using a “free medical equipment kit” to collect personal information.
The sender is a marketing company that gathers Medicare numbers and personal data then sells it. Medicare does not send out free kits or request information by email. Legitimate Medicare communication comes by official mail or through your doctor.
If it’s free, what’s the harm?
There could be a free kit involved, but at what cost? This is not an official Medicare affiliate. It is likely a marketing company using a free lure to get your attention, and before they agree to send out the kit, you will need to provide your private information. At the very least, they will ask for your Medicare card number; at worst, they will ask for a Social Security number, home address, and banking information all under the guise of “verifying” your eligibility.
This is known as data mining, and it is a multi-billion-dollar business. Data mining is like someone quietly following you through every store you enter, writing down what you touch, what you hesitate over, what you buy, and what you ignore, then selling those notes to other companies, along with your identifying information.
- Marketers use the data to design ever more targeted advertising campaigns that know exactly which buttons to push to get you to buy or to fall for a financial scam before you can stop to think critically about what is happening.
- Scammers use the information to steal your identity, take out loans in your name, bill Medicare for services you did not receive, get cell phones using your name and credit history, or empty your bank accounts.
- Dishonest companies can use this information and call you with high pressure sales pitches that attempt to scare people into buying things that are either over-priced or fake.
How to tell it’s a suspicious email
#1 It was an unsolicited email. The return email address might look very similar to a real Medicare email address, but Medicare does not email recipients out of the blue.
#2 It came from a third party. If you hold your mouse over the button that says “view kit” (without clicking on it, just hover the mouse pointer over the button,) a little box will pop up showing you the name of the website you would open if you did click. You will see the link does not go to medicare.gov but something else. It may have the words medicare.gov in the link, but there will be a much longer link there.
#3 There is a sense of urgency. In this case it says, “only 800 remain” and the “enrollment period for this kit ends tomorrow”. That is intentional. Scammers want to create a sense of urgency so you act quickly rather than thinking about it too much.
#4 Medicare does not offer free medical equipment.
#5 If something is free, the price is your personal data.
You’re not foolish if you fell for it
These offer emails are designed by professional behavioral psychologists and data analysts. No matter your age or income level, this psychological manipulation is calculated intentionally to get past anyone’s defenses.
If you or someone you know did respond to this kind of email and gave away their information, there are steps you can take:
- Call Medicare and report it. You may need to get a new Medicare card and number
- Report it to your bank and ask if you should open a new account with new account numbers. Just a reminder – if you didn’t call them first for help, a bank will never reach out and suggest you take out your funds to protect them by sending the money somewhere else or by buying crypto currency (or gift cards) with it. Such a call is very likely the scammer! Your bank will have you keep your money in the bank, just in a new account.
- Set up free credit monitoring so you will receive a notification if someone is trying to open a new account in your name.
- Contact the three credit bureaus and put a freeze on your credit.
- Consider signing up for identity theft protection
- Reach out to the local police for further help.
- Change any passwords that were shared.
- Closely monitor any Medicare Summary Notices for fraudulent charges
Call the Keene Aging and Disability Resource Center for more information about how you connect with the Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP) to get help, or become a helper to others who have been targeted by scammers. 1-603-357-1922