By Mike Kruzman / news@whmi.com


A new Medicare scam has local law enforcement cautioning residents about the tactics being used to try and separate people from their personal information.

Brighton City Police Chief Rob Bradford said, in a release, that the pandemic combined with Medicare changing everyone’s number has created a “perfect scenario for opportunistic criminals.” Medicare has been in the process of replacing old account information which includes social security numbers. Bradford said that phone calls are being made by a person with a strong foreign accent claiming to be a Medicare employee. They are offering free medical equipment or diagnostic testing, and requesting the resident’s Medicare number.

Calls are said to sound like they are coming from a large call center with many background conversations, and have all been terminated when the residents ask where they are calling from.

Bradford reports another scammer has claimed to be a representative from CVS Pharmacy who wants a Medicare number for “free testing.” In that scam, the caller said they would send a collection tube so the resident could submit their saliva to a lab for cardiac screening. Returning calls to the phone numbers submitted has never connected the police department to a legitimate Medicare office.

Bradford advises that visiting Medicare.gov will advise residents to never provide their information over the phone unless you have previously given them permission to call, such as with a Medicare representative you are already familiar with.

Chief Bradford credited Offcer Tom Silwa who felt this was valuable information for residents.