Q. My grandmother keeps getting calls claiming to be from Social Security. I tell her these are scams to get information from her. Is there anything that can be done?
A. Social Security and its Office of the Inspector General (OIG) continue to receive reports about fraudulent phone calls from people falsely claiming to be Social Security employees. The scammers mislead victims into making cash or gift card payments for help with purported identity theft, or to avoid arrest for bogus Social Security number problems.
People should also be on the lookout for a new version of this scam. Fraudsters are now emailing fake documents in attempts to get people to comply with their demands. Victims have received emails with attached letters and reports that appear to be from Social Security or the OIG. The letters may use official letterhead and government jargon to convince victims they are legitimate; they may also contain misspellings and grammar mistakes.
Social Security employees do occasionally contact people–generally those who have ongoing business with the agency–by telephone for business purposes. However, Social Security employees will never threaten a person, or promise a Social Security benefit approval, or increase, in exchange for information or money. In those cases, the call is fraudulent and people should just hang up.
Generally, the agency calls people who have recently applied for a Social Security benefit, someone who is already receiving payments and requires an update to their record, or a person who has requested a phone call from the agency. If a person is not in one of these situations, they normally would not receive a call from the agency. Social Security will not:
+ Tell you that your Social Security number has been suspended.
+ Contact you to demand an immediate payment.
+ Ask you for credit or debit card numbers over the phone.
+ Require a specific means of debt repayment, like a prepaid debit card, a retail gift card, or cash.
+ Demand that you pay a Social Security debt without the ability to appeal the amount you owe.
+ Promise a Social Security benefit approval, or increase, in exchange for information or money.
If there is a problem with a person’s Social Security number or record, in most cases Social Security will mail a letter. If a person needs to submit payments to Social Security, the agency will send a letter with instructions and payment options. People should never provide information or payment over the phone or Internet unless they are certain of who is receiving it.
If you receive a suspicious call: 1) Hang Up; 2) Do not give out personal information or send money; and 3) Report the scam at OIG.SSA.GOV
Q. We tried to use Medicare.gov to choose a new, less expensive drug plan last December but we must have done something wrong because our drug costs have gone up instead of down! What can be done? We don’t want to wait until next October to change again!
A. There were a lot of changes on Medicare.gov last fall and definite glitches occurred with the new Medicare Plan Finder. Our Michigan Medicare and Medicaid Assistance Program (MMAP) counselors have encountered similar problems. Prices for some drugs are coming up different now than what was shown on the Plan Finder when people signed up during open enrollment.
To address these concerns, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has stated that beneficiaries can call 1-800-Medicare at any time during the year & ask for a special enrollment period to change plans if they “believe they made the wrong plan choice because of inaccurate or misleading information.” CMS is being more lenient in allowing for special enrollment periods because of the issues with the new Plan Finder during open enrollment. This does not guarantee a special enrollment period will be granted, but beneficiaries are encouraged to call and request one if they are experiencing higher drug costs due to the plan they chose during open enrollment.