Second Set of Eyes Might Help Protect Seniors

The latest reports are that Medicare fraud is one of the most common crimes against older adults. But there is good news on that front.

A massive fake Medicare scheme that stole millions of dollars from the bank accounts of senior citizens has been stopped by a federal court at the request of the Federal Trade Commission. The telemarketing crooks pretended to be part of Medicare to gain the confidence of the seniors.

The FTC announced recently it seeks to permanently end the operation and return victims’ money. According to a complaint filed by the FTC, the defendants called consumers – including many whose numbers were listed on the National Do Not Call Registry – and said they were providing a new Medicare card or information about Medicare benefits.

 

The defendants allegedly misrepresented that they were working on behalf of Medicare, and said they needed to verify consumers’ identities using personal information that included their bank account numbers. The defendants allegedly assured consumers that the information would not be used to debit their bank accounts, and that there was no charge for the new Medicare card or information about Medicare benefits. However, within a few weeks, consumers learned their bank accounts had been debited either $399 or $448 via remotely created checks (RCCs), the complaint alleges. Despite these charges, consumers did not receive any kind of product or service from the defendants. In some instances, the defendants debited the accounts of consumers they had not even contacted.

To learn more about how you can protect older adults from fraud, go to ProtectSeniorsFromFraud.com. To learn more about Medicare fraud, visit http://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2014/10/ftc-halts-fake-medicare-scheme-took-money-seniors-bank-accounts.