The short answer
A Medicare phone scam asks for your Medicare Number, your money, or your signature on a plan. Medicare will never call to sell you anything. It calls and asks for personal information only in limited situations, such as returning a call you started.
The phone rings and the voice knows your name. You were told Medicare never calls, so you know this one is fake. That rule is not the rule Medicare wrote, and going by it will fail you in both directions.
How do I spot a Medicare phone scam?
A Medicare phone scam asks for something Medicare would not ask for on an uninvited call. The signs Medicare names are a caller wanting your Medicare Number or money, a caller threatening to cancel your benefits, and anyone offering to sign you up for a plan by phone.
Take that last one on its own, because it is the quietest of the three. Medicare's instruction is not to join a health or drug plan over the phone unless you called and asked for help. The problem is not the plan being offered. It is the direction the call travelled.
The threat is the one Medicare names in the same breath as the others. A caller who says your health benefits will be cancelled sits on Medicare's own list of what to hang up on, beside a caller asking for your information or for money.
There is a fourth sign that arrives dressed as generosity. Medicare's list of things not to do includes accepting offers of money or gifts in exchange for free medical care.
None of these depend on the caller sounding suspicious. A convincing voice, a real sounding department name and a number on your screen that looks official all cost a caller nothing.
So the signs are about the request rather than the person making it. What is being asked for, and whether anybody on your side of the line asked for this conversation.
Does Medicare ever call me?
Yes, in limited situations, and Medicare names them. Medicare will never call to sell you anything or visit your home. It will call and ask for personal information only in cases like an agent returning your call after you joined a plan, reported fraud, or left a message.
The test is not who they say they are. It is who started it. This is our reading rather than a rule Medicare states in one place, and three of its own sentences produce it.
Medicare says it will never call uninvited and ask you for personal or private information, and the limited situations it lists all begin with something you did.
Its card page says not to share your Medicare Number with anyone who contacts you by phone, email or in person unless you contacted them first and gave them permission. Its fraud page says not to join a plan over the phone unless you called and asked for help.
So every legitimate version of this call is a callback. Those three facts are Medicare's. Reading them as one question is ours.
Here is how that plays out.
| The call you got | Can it be Medicare | What the answer turns on |
|---|---|---|
| A call selling you something | No | Medicare never calls to sell |
| A callback after you left a message | Yes | You started the contact |
| A caller asking for your Medicare Number | Not unless you called first | You did not start the contact |
The middle row is the one the popular advice gets wrong, and it matters because that call is often the one a reader was waiting for.
What are the common scam scripts?
Medicare publishes five examples of fraud. One is a person who comes to your house or calls you, offering to sign you up for hospice care in exchange for your Medicare Number. Another is a company offering a drug plan Medicare has not approved.
The hospice example is worth reading slowly, because it is stranger than the usual warnings. It is not a request for money. It is a request for your Medicare Number, dressed as an enrollment in something you may genuinely need one day.
The unapproved drug plan is the other kind, and Medicare's wording is precise. A company offers you a Medicare drug plan that Medicare has not approved. Not approved is the claim being made, and it is a different thing from a plan that does not exist.
The other three published examples do not come by phone at all. A provider bills Medicare for a visit you never had or a back brace you never got. A provider charges Medicare twice for one service. Someone steals your Medicare Number or card and uses it to submit claims in your name.
That third one names what the phone call is for. Medicare calls it medical identity theft, and defines it as someone using your personal information without your consent to commit Medicare fraud or other crimes.
One more approach does not appear on the fraud examples list but appears on the same page as a rule. Nobody except your doctor or another Medicare provider should be reviewing your medical records or recommending services to you.
What should I do if I get one?
Hang up, then call Medicare yourself on the number you already have. Medicare's instruction is direct: if someone calls asking for your information, for money, or threatening to cancel your health benefits, end the call and contact Medicare on its published line instead.
That line is 1-800-MEDICARE, which is 1-800-633-4227. TTY users can call 1-877-486-2048. Calling back on a number you looked up yourself is what turns an uninvited call into one you started.
Ending the call is the whole instruction. There is no version of this where you need to stay on and establish whether the caller is genuine, because Medicare has already told you what it does and does not do uninvited.
If you are asked to confirm your Medicare Number, the short list of people who may be given it does not include an unexpected caller. Medicare names your doctor, insurers acting on your behalf, and people who work with Medicare such as your State Health Insurance Assistance Program.
There is a practical detail worth knowing before the phone rings. If you are in a Medicare Advantage plan you use your plan's card to get services rather than your Medicare card, so a caller pressing you for the Medicare Number is asking for something you may not use week to week.
Your Medicare card still matters, and Medicare's instruction is to keep it somewhere safe, because you need the information on it to join a plan or buy Medigap.
What if I already gave information?
Two calls, in this order. If you think someone else is using your Medicare Number, call Medicare. If you gave personal information to someone you should not have, Medicare's instruction is to contact the Federal Trade Commission, the body Medicare names for identity theft.
Those are two different problems and the split is deliberate. Misuse of your Medicare Number is a Medicare matter. Your personal information being loose in the world is not, and Medicare sends that one elsewhere rather than handling it.
Then watch your own claims, because that is where misuse shows up. Medicare's advice is to create a secure Medicare.gov account, which lets you see your Original Medicare claims as soon as they are processed rather than waiting for a statement.
Alongside that, compare the dates and services on your calendar against the Medicare statements you get, and check that you received each service listed and that the details are right.
If a charge looks wrong, the first call is not to Medicare. Medicare's instruction is to check the receipts and statements from your providers and to call the provider's office if you think a charge is incorrect.
Not every wrong charge is fraud, and treating a billing error as a crime slows down the fix. The difference matters, and the routes are not the same.
Where do I report it?
Two routes, and which one fits depends on your coverage. Anyone can report suspected Medicare fraud by calling Medicare's main line or by reporting online, which goes to the Inspector General. Medicare Advantage and drug plan members have a second line as well.
The main line is 1-800-MEDICARE, 1-800-633-4227. The online report goes to the Office of Inspector General at the Department of Health and Human Services, which runs the hotline that receives these.
If you have a Medicare Advantage plan or a Medicare drug plan, there is a dedicated contractor. The Investigations Medicare Drug Integrity Contractor takes calls on 1-877-7SAFERX, which is 1-877-772-3379.
Before you dial, Medicare lists what to have in front of you.
- Your name and Medicare Number
- The name of the provider you are reporting, with any identifying details you have
- The service or item you are questioning, and when you supposedly got it
- The amount Medicare approved and paid
- The date on your Medicare Summary Notice, your plan's Explanation of Benefits, or the claim
One boundary is worth knowing before you pick a number. The Inspector General does not take issues about Medicare policy, coverage, billing claims or appeals, or a lost or stolen card. Those go to Medicare.
So a refusal to cover something is an appeal, a problem with how your plan treated you is a complaint, and a stranger asking for your Medicare Number is this page.
What this means for you
The rule you were given is wrong in a specific way, and the correction is more useful than the rule. Medicare will never call to sell you anything, and it will call and ask for personal information in situations it names, all of which begin with something you did first.
So the question to ask yourself is not whether the voice sounds real. It is whether you started this conversation. A callback after you left a message can be genuine. A cold call asking for your Medicare Number is not.
If you get one, end the call and ring Medicare on a number you looked up. If you have already given something away, call Medicare about misuse of your number and the Federal Trade Commission about your personal information, then start watching your claims in a secure account.
Reporting has two doors, and the right one depends on whether you have a plan. Everyone can use Medicare's main line or report online to the Inspector General, and plan members also have the drug integrity contractor.
For what to do when the request was for your Medicare Number specifically, read this publication's article on someone asking for your Medicare number. For what actually happens after you file, read the article on how to report Medicare fraud.
FAQ
Is it true that Medicare never calls you?
No, and the flat version of that advice can cost you. What Medicare states is narrower and more useful. Medicare will never call to sell you anything and will never visit you at your home.
It also says that Medicare, or someone representing Medicare, will call and ask for personal information in limited situations, and it names them: an agent or representative returning your call after you have joined a plan, reported fraud, or left a message for Medicare.
Every one of those begins with an act of yours. So a callback can be genuine while a cold call asking for your Medicare Number is not, and the difference is who started the contact rather than what the caller claims.
What exactly should I refuse to give out on the phone?
Your Medicare card, your Medicare Number, your Social Security card and your Social Security Number. Medicare's list of people who may be given that information is short: your doctor, people you know should have it such as insurers acting on your behalf, and people who work with Medicare, like your State Health Insurance Assistance Program.
Its card page adds health plans and their licensed agents or brokers. The rule that covers everyone else is a single sentence: do not share your Medicare Number or other personal information with anyone who contacts you by phone, email or in person unless you contacted them first and gave them permission to contact you.
Someone offered to sign me up for hospice care. Is that a real approach?
It is one of Medicare's five published examples of fraud. Medicare describes it exactly that way: a person comes to your house or calls you, offering to sign you up for hospice care if you give them your Medicare Number. It is worth naming because it does not look like the scams people are warned about.
Nobody asks you for money. What is being collected is the number itself, which is what a person needs to submit claims in your name. Medicare calls that medical identity theft and defines it as someone using your personal information without your consent to commit Medicare fraud or other crimes.
A caller said my benefits would be cancelled unless I confirmed my details. What now?
Hang up. Medicare's instruction covers that exact situation: if someone calls and asks for your information, for money, or threatens to cancel your health benefits, hang up and call Medicare at 1-800-MEDICARE, which is 1-800-633-4227.
TTY users can call 1-877-486-2048. There is no step in between where you establish whether the caller is genuine, because a threat to cancel your benefits is itself on Medicare's list of what a scam call sounds like.
Calling back on a number you looked up yourself also converts the situation into one you started, which is the only kind of call in which Medicare asks for personal information.
How would I even know if my Medicare Number was being used?
By looking at your claims rather than waiting to be told. Medicare's advice is to create a secure Medicare.gov account, which shows your Original Medicare claims as soon as they are processed instead of waiting for a paper statement to arrive.
Alongside that, compare the dates and services on your own calendar against the Medicare statements you receive, and check that you actually got each service listed and that the details are correct.
Also check the receipts and statements you get from providers. If a charge looks wrong, Medicare's first instruction is to call the provider's office, because a billing mistake and a fraudulent claim are not the same thing.
Where does a report go, and is there more than one number?
There are two routes and a third for plan members. Anyone can call Medicare at 1-800-MEDICARE, 1-800-633-4227, or report online, which goes to the Office of Inspector General at the Department of Health and Human Services.
If you have a Medicare Advantage plan or a Medicare drug plan, you can also call the Investigations Medicare Drug Integrity Contractor at 1-877-7SAFERX, which is 1-877-772-3379.
Before calling, Medicare lists what to have ready: your name and Medicare Number, the provider's name and any identifying details, the service you are questioning and when you supposedly got it, the amount Medicare approved and paid, and the date on your notice or claim.
