Kansas Insurance Commissioner issues Medicare phone fraud alert

Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger is urging Medicarebeneficiaries and their families to be aware of a new Medicare phonescam.  Her office issued a “consumer alert” Thursday that details the concern:  A caller claims to be a Medicare representative from your areaMedicare office. The caller reports that all Medicare beneficiarieswill receive $200 or $150 per month to pay for prescription drugs, andthe beneficiary will receive a new Medicare card showing proof of thenew benefits.  The caller then asks to confirm the beneficiary’s Medicare number and asks for the beneficiary’s bank account number.  According to reports, the caller is said to have a foreign accentand has used the last name of “Jones” with a representative ID numberof DJ1049. The caller may give out phone numbers with an 866 area codeas numbers to call if a beneficiary does not want to enroll now andwishes to do so at a later date.

Source:  Lawrence (KS) Journal World, http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2007/may/03/praeger_issues_medicare_phone_scam_alert/