Medicare Verification Department Call
 

I received a (bogus) call yesterday from "the Medicare Verification Dept". She identified herself and gave me her "employee ID#" to verify she was legit. She asked if I was Robert and after I said yes she asked if I had received my new Medicare card and after I said yes she said "would you please verify that the following address is accurate...and she rattled off an old address from 2 years ago". The red flag went up. I asked "why would you ask me that if you mailed my new card and it was received at the correct address and I get routine correspondence from Medicare at my correct address?" She began stuttering and said they were just trying to verify my information. I asked her to give me her number and I would call her back. She said that she couldn't do that and I told her she was not from Medicare and I was going to immediately report her. I hung up and called Medicare who verified that the call was not legit and took detailed information from me to register the call and report the incident for their Medicare records and to the FTC. I'm sure other of you have received this attempt at obtaining your info but if not, beware!

Excellent advice! Also just as an extra precaution: be VERY careful when saying "yes" to ANYTHING on the phone, if you weren't expecting that phone call or don't know exactly who you're talking to. In some situations, your verbal "yes" will be recorded and added to something completely unrelated, and you will have inadvertently agreed to something you never would have agreed to. And they have you saying "yes" to that thing. It is a fairly common scam.

When someone says "is this Jazuela?" I don't automatically say yes. I say "who's calling?" Often, they hang up right then. When that happens I know I just saved myself several thousand dollars in fraudulent purchases in my name.

One of the latest scams is a call trying to get the new Medicare card number. Sometimes the call is under the guise of offering a “deal” on some kind of medical supplies, like braces or whatever. Retirees do so love “a deal.” The scammer tries to create a sense of urgency.

There is actually a somewhat scientific explanation as to how even those who think they are really smart, or even are known to be the smartest of the smart, can get taken.

The amygdala is the part of the brain that gets tapped into and manipulated by a successful scammer. It is interesting to read about the amygdala. (I had never heard the word amygdala before — sounds like something a silly person might name a new baby these days.)

These phone scams will never end as long as people keep answering unknown calls and having even less than a minute of conversation. Once the scammer is able to engage the victim, the scam is at least half-way there.

HaHa - Amygdala I am adding that to my list, right after Chlamydia, FeMaLe and Nosmo King.

This "YES" recording scam sounds a little far fetched to me. Why wouldn't the scammer just fake your voice? Is a bank or other vender going to scientifically analyze your voice to determine who actually said "YES" to order something, and make you pay for something you didn't order? Couldn't they figure out that the recording is bogus? I'm skeptical.

CLICK HERE: FCC warns consumers about new '''Yes''' phone scam - ABC News

I clicked and read it, but it doesn't indicate that anyone was scammed by the recording. It also says to report scam phone numbers to the FCC. I have done that many times in the past, but the FCC has never followed up with me or done anything as far as I know.

They have proof that they called YOU, and that YOU answered a question "yes." You can look this stuff up, no need to believe me personally. I'm just putting it out there. There was a whole thing about this in one of the AARP bulletins last year, I believe. And there was a police alert somewhere in my state that I saw in the local weekly newspaper about it as well.

From that ABC news article: if you go to the actual FCC.gov website you'll find the ACTUAL alert here: FCC Warns of 'Can You Hear Me' Phone Scams | Federal Communications Commission - and it's dated 2017. So not only is it a "thing," it's been a "thing" for over a year now.

I understand that the news media and the FCC are warning people about this "scam", but the ABC report talks about a woman named Teresa Thomas, who says that she was not scammed. The FCC wants you to report scammer phone numbers, but they don't seem to be doing anything with those numbers to stop phone scams. Also, what is a voice signature? I have a voice signature to access my investment account, but it is a specific phrase, not just saying "yes". Who evaluates the accuracy of a voice signature when you just say "yes". Is there some kind of voice signature database somewhere?

Here's one on your side: Bamboozled: Is the 'Can you hear me?' scam really a scam? | NJ.com

I have had a few calls like that. It is usually: Hello, this is Rebecca. I'm having a little trouble with my earpiece; can you hear me?

I always answer: I hear you. They ask again if I hear them. It's working fine, I hear you. They hang up.