New hoax targets those on Medicare, Social Security

Sure, a Nigerian prince wants to give you $1 million for getting the rest of his vast fortune out of the country.

You're also a tad skeptical that you've won the Dutch Internet lottery -- especially since five other people in your office were just as lucky.

Call it the age of the scam.

They arrive in inboxes and voicemails fast and furious, but the latest target a particularly vulnerable section of society: those on both Social Security and Medicare.

The script for the scammers goes something like this: You get a phone call from "a Social Security employee," or someone who insinuates he or she is from a governmental agency.

The caller says you're eligible for a program in which you pay a lump sum for a year's worth of Medicare payments, instead of having the cost taken out of your Social Security checks, and the agency will rebate you $600.

All they need -- drumroll, please -- is your bank info.

"When somebody asks you for your account number and your routing number, you say 'Whoa!'," said Carol Johnson, a Wauconda resident whom the scammers unsuccessfully tried to entrap.

Johnson, who gets Social Security disability payments, worried the offer could tempt many people on limited incomes.

"Six hundred dollars is a lot of money when you're on Social Security," Johnson said. "A lot of people are just going to fall for this."

Lawrence Keillor, public affairs specialist for the Social Security Administration, agreed and said the agency has heard about this scam plenty, especially in Illinois.

"People need to be very, very leery of any kind of unsolicited phone call they get," he said.

Especially, Keillor said, because the scammers appear to have been doing their homework and are riffing on an actual SSA program called Extra Help.

In that program, those who apply and are eligible can have their Medicare Part D premiums paid by Social Security.

"We would not be cold-calling people," Keillor added though. "We don't just suddenly show up at your door."

Bottom line, he said, is never give out personal information without verifying someone's claims.

"The client should always ask for the name of the person who is representing themselves to be the government," Keillor said.

Then, check and double-check by calling phone numbers you know are right and visiting Web sites you know are for the agency.

Call (800) 772-1213 for the SSA or (800) 269-0271 to report a scam.

Alarm bells

According to the Social Security office, you should get suspicious if:

• You get an unsolicited phone call or e-mail. Particularly e-mail, says Lawrence Keillor of the Social Security Administration, because the organization doesn't use it to do business.

• Someone asks you to give or verify personal information, including your PIN, social security number, bank routing number or bank account number or passwords.

• They won't give you their name. Keillor says all Social Security employees are trained to give you their name for security and verification purposes.

• They offer a rebate, refund or reward. Many scammers prey on the fact people may live on limited income and need the cash they're offering.

• There is urgency to the transaction. Anyone who calls or writes you should be willing to let you verify they're who they say they are before you give them any information.

• They direct you to visit a Web site that doesn't match the organization's official site. For Social Security, it's easy: www.ssa.gov.

Here are some Internet links to check and report suspected SSA scams: www.ssa.gov/oig/hotline/index.htm (reporting fraud and scams) and www.ssa.gov/oig/hotline/factsheets.htm#scams (lists of scams that involve impersonating SSA employees).

Source: Social Security Administration