Beware of Medicare scam phone calls

Today’s Sound Off: Beware of people who claim to represent Medicare.

Dear Heloise: I recently received a call from a man who said it was his job to inform people of the added benefits of Medicare. I asked what he meant, and he rat- tled off some incredible non- sense about how I could get “free” dental and vision. All I had to do was send a one- time payment of $100 for the enrollment fee. He said I could use an automatic withdrawal if I gave him my bank- ing information. (You know, to make it easier for me.)

I asked him why there was an enrollment fee when other companies don’t charge that sort of thing, and he said they soon would also be charging fees in order to compete with them.

I immediately sensed this was a scam in the works, and told him so. I also said I needed to think about it and asked for a number where I could contact him. He said either I sign up then and there, or this so-called wonderful opportunity would be gone. I hung up on him!

Apparently, the Medicare

scammers get busy starting in September because so many people are enrolling for Medicare for the first time or making some changes in their Medicare plan before the end of the year. So, please advise your readers to be very careful when someone calls with this sort of craziness. — Annie in Memphis, Tennessee

Annie, consider it done. If you feel you’ve been a vic- tim of Medicare scammers, discovered provider care you never received or saw that a fraudulent claim was made on your behalf, report it to 1-800-633-4227 or go to www.medicare.gov/fraud. Never give out any Medicare information to random call- ers. — Heloise

Fast facts

Protect yourself from scammers:

■ Never carry your Medicare card or Social Security card with you in your wallet unless you know you will need to show them for some legitimate reason, such as when at the doctor’s or at the hospital.

■ Keep up with current scams. New scams pop up all the time.

■ All of your financial information should be kept to yourself. Don’t give it out to anonymous callers.

■ Have a password on your phone. If someone steals it, they won’t be able to use it.

■ Remove all personal information about yourself on social media.