The text may say you need a Medicare wellness update.

It could say that important changes are happening to your plan.

The caller might say your Medicare card has expired.

All of them are scams.

Medicare enrollment starts Oct. 15, and every year around this time, the Better Business Bureau sees complaints about scams coming mostly by phone call or text.

Medicare will never call, email, or text you uninvited. 

Still, our BBB ScamTracker shows scammers are reaching out about overdue exams.

Others try selling you a plan you don’t need or does not exist.

One man says a caller sold him an insurance plan, he made an initial payment but never received the cards and says there is no plan.

Another ScamTracker complaint shows a woman received 15 calls from different numbers and most asked for her Social Security and Medicare numbers.

Never give out those numbers. 

Scammers are using accounts to bill Medicare for bogus charges with high profits for them.

And it seems that catheters must be very profitable. An Arizona woman says Medicare billed her account $9,000 for catheters she didn’t order or need.

Another Arizonan says scammers used his account to file bogus claims he disputed.

Still, he says Medicare paid the scammer $12,500

The woman noticed the charge by looking at her monthly Medicare statement. 

Check statements or your Medicare account monthly and look for bogus charges.

Also, remember, Medicare doesn’t contact you out of the blue.

Don’t reply to unexpected calls or texts.

Medicare cards do not need to be sent.

They can be printed from your account. 

Never give out any personal information to people you don’t know.

If you think there’s a Medicare issue, go into your account and check.

If you’re looking for insurance coverage, check reviews and complaints at bbb.org 

For Medicare help, consider Area Agency on Aging advisers. They’re available nationwide, don’t work on commission and can help with enrollment and changes for free.

Protect yourself from all the latest scams at joeknowsbetter.com.

https://www.bbb.org/local/1126/joe-knows-better

Contact Medicare through your accocunt or at their official website;

https://www.medicare.gov/about-us/contact-medicare

Report all scams to BBB Scam Tracker 

https://www.bbb.org/scamtracker