Don’t fall for the Medicare back brace scam

December 20, 2018

Consumers have reported calls where a potential scammer says that a back brace or other medical equipment is available for free to the consumer. Scammers may claim to be from Medicare or be part of your provider’s network. In reality, these calls are part of a scam, where scammers seek personal information such as your Social Security number or Medicare number.

Be sure to follow these tips:

• If the call is truly from Medicare and intended for you, the caller would already have information such as your name and address. If the caller requests such information, it is likely a scam. Hang up, and if you need to contact Medicare, do so at a legitimate telephone number such as 800-MEDICARE.
• Remember that scammers can hide the phone number they are calling from and display any number they choose on your Caller ID screen. This is done using Caller ID spoofing technology, which is available to scammers at very little cost.
• Keep your Social Security and Medicare numbers private. Do not share them with strangers that call you out of the blue. Also, do not provide your birthdate, bank account details, or credit card numbers to strangers.
• If you need a back brace or other medical equipment, make a face-to-face appointment with a doctor - that way you can get the proper equipment, and it will be billed correctly.