Health Care Scams Target Consumers Year-Round

In 2024, insurance scams topped the list of robocall complaints filed with the FCC. While these calls tend to spike during health care Open Enrollment season, fraudsters may use similar approaches year-round.

Common insurance scam tactics include calls or texts pretending to be from government entities or insurance providers and often offer free health screenings or gifts. Don't be fooled. These imposters are trying to steal your personally identifiable information, your money, or both.

One example of an insurance robocall campaign reported to the FCC featured fraudsters spoofing the number Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) to impersonate the well-known insurance company. The real BCBS offers fraud prevention advice on its website, warning that it has received complaints about scammers who use spoofing to make it appear that calls are coming from its national "Call Blue" customer-service number (888-630-2583). However, the toll-free number can only receive incoming calls, according to BCBS, and they do not use that number to make calls. So if the "Call Blue" customer service number appears on your caller ID, the insurer says such a call is malicious and you should not answer.

Here are some more tips to help you avoid becoming a victim of health-care scam attempts:

• Don't answer calls from numbers you don't recognize, even if the number in your caller ID appears to be local. If you do answer the phone, but you become suspicious that the call isn't legitimate, don't hang on, hang up.
• If you get an inquiry from someone who says they represent a healthcare company or a government agency, hang up and call the phone number on your account statement, in the phone book, or on the company's or government agency's website to verify the authenticity of the request.
• Decline promotional gifts in exchange for personal information. Beware of any "free" offers.
• Never give out personal information such as account numbers, Social Security numbers, Medicare ID numbers, mother's maiden names, passwords, or other identifying information in response to unexpected calls or if you are at all suspicious.

What You Can Do if You've Been Scammed

If you think that you're a victim of a health care enrollment scam, you should first contact law enforcement to report it. You can also report it to the Federal Trade Commission at reportfraud.ftc.gov. The FCC encourages consumers to file a complaint about phone scams with its Consumer Complaint Center.

If you are unsure about whether an insurance plan is valid, contact your state insurance commissioner's office, which should be listed on the NAIC (National Association of Insurance Commissioners) website. You can also call the customer service number on the health insurer's official website to speak with an official representative for that plan.

For information on health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, visit healthcare.gov, and for information on Medicare, visit medicare.gov.

To learn more about how to avoid robocalls and caller ID spoofing scams, visit fcc.gov/robocalls, which provides a list of call-blocking and labeling resources.

Read the FCC Complaint Center FAQ to learn more about the FCC's informal complaint process, including how to file a complaint, and what happens after a complaint is filed.