Washington
Providers beware. Callers pretending to be from Medicare are targeting providers and stealing personal information from them, CMS has warned.
In this latest scam — thus far directed at physicians but with the potential to spread to other providers, including home care companies — someone calls saying they are a Medicare fraud investigator or Medicare employee. The caller claims that the Medicare computer system has had a malfunction and says they need to update lost information. Once the scammers receive this information, they falsify enrollment data and request changes to location and pay-to addresses.
According to CMS, the agency has not had any computer system malfunctions and is not calling providers requesting information. If a provider receives such a call, CMS advises, the company should try to verify the telephone number of the caller and notify the Medicare carrier.
