Sheriff's
office warns of
possible
Medicare scam
By JOSHUA
COFFMAN
Landmark News Service
The Owen County Sheriff’s
Office wants residents to be on alert for possible Medicare scams.
The office released a statement last week warning of people stopping
by homes or calling and asking for patients’ Social Security
numbers and date of births.
The statement said such activity is not a normal procedure used
by Medicare and added that the agency will contact patients by
mail if it needs information.
Sheriff Zemer Hammond said his office received reports from two
or three residents who received phone calls from someone claiming
to be with Medicare and requested information.
“They don’t talk about things like that over the phone,”
he said, unless a person initiates contact with the agency.
Hammond said any suspicious activity should be reported to his
office.
“Any kind of suspicion they see, any car that looks suspicious
to them … try to get the plate number off of it, and I’ll
check it out real quick,” he said.
Hammond also noted a scam from a few years back, in which people
went to a few houses in the area, offering to put in new linoleum
for free.
One person would block off a room by standing up a roll of linoleum
and then distract the homeowner, while another person ransacked
the home for money and other belongings.
“They can use a lot of different scams just to get into
your house,” Hammond said, noting another scam in which
the con artist offered to clean a person’s gutters for free,
then gaining access to the house.
Hammond said he thinks more than two people were involved in those
previous scams, because it happened in several counties involving
different vehicles.
He said it was tough to catch the culprits because they work so
sporadically and in such a large area.
Hammond said homeowners allowing a strange person into their homes
could be putting themselves in a dangerous situation.
He advises residents to install a storm door and keep it locked.
“Don’t let them use the phone or anything,”
Hammond said.
Instead, he advises residents to offer to call the sheriff’s
office on their behalf for assistance.
“If you don’t know somebody, don’t let them
in your house to begin with,” he said.
A booklet providing tips for Medicare patients published by the
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services offers these tips
to people to avoid becoming victim to a Medicare scam:
? Only give info to doctors or providers approved by Medicare
? Be suspicious of people if they: offer free services and ask
for a patient’s Medicare number; say Medicare wants you
to have a particular item or service; they say they know how to
get Medicare to pay for it
? Do not give a Medicare number out over the phone or to people
you do not know
? Do not allow anyone other than appropriate medical professionals
to review your medical records or recommend services.
|
