Medicare Calls Fishing for Personal Information

NORTHGLENN, Colo (CBS4) Almost every senior carries a Medicare card which have very personal information printed on them. There's full names, addresses and even social security numbers. Now scammers are using those cards to try to get even more personal information out of you.

Northglenn resident Terrence Emmett got the call three times.

"They had a very foreign accent so I was real suspicious right off the bat," Emmett explained.

The caller said he was sending a new Medicare card and had a lot of personal information about Emmett.

"They started reading off addresses and stuff and verifying my checking account routing number," Emmett told CBS4.

They had his bank's routing number, but not his bank account number. They wanted Emmett to give them that.

"Then I really got suspicious. They were starting to get me mad," Emmett said.

The Denver Metro Medicare office confirms to 4 On Your Side that they are not sending out new cards, and that they don't call clients directly. They say seniors who get this call need to hand up as quickly as possible. Terrance Emmett agrees.

"We need to get the word out there, there's probably a lot of this going on."

If you're concerned about carrying a card that has your social security number on it, you can protect yourself. Make a copy of your Medicare card and then black out the last four digits of your social security number. It's important that you don't harm your original card, so make sure you make a copy first.
RELATED: More Reports By 4 On Your Side Consumer Investigator Jodi Brooks

- Written for the Web by CBS4 Special Projects Producer Libby Smith