Medicare Open Enrollment scams: spot the calls before they cost you
Every fall, enrollment season (October 15 – December 7) brings a wave of fake “Medicare” calls, texts and “licensed agents”. Here’s how the scams work, how to shut a call down, and how to get off the lists the scammers are dialing from.
Medicare doesn’t cold-call. If someone rings about your plan, a new card, a refund or “free benefits” — hang up and dial 1-800-MEDICARE yourself; anything real will be there. Never give your Medicare number, SSN or bank details to an inbound caller. To stop the calls rather than just screen them, remove your phone and address from the data-broker and lead-generation sites the calling lists are built from.
1. Why the calls flood in every fall
Medicare Open Enrollment runs October 15 – December 7, and it’s the one time of year when a stranger talking about your health plan doesn’t sound strange. Scam operations prepare for it like a retail holiday: they buy lists of seniors — name, age, phone, address, sometimes the current insurer — from data brokers and insurance lead-generation sites, and start dialing in early September, before legitimate plan marketing is even allowed to begin. If the calls feel targeted, that’s because they are: the data came from a list someone sold.
2. The scams making the rounds
The scripts change, the goals don’t: your Medicare number, your Social Security number, or a payment. The staples: a “new Medicare card” that requires you to verify your number first; a “your plan is being cancelled — act today” pressure call; free-sounding offers (genetic tests, back braces, grocery allowances) that just need your Medicare number; and “you’re owed a refund” calls that need your bank details to “deposit” it. Around Open Enrollment, add fake “licensed agents” pushing you to switch to a plan you never asked about — sometimes enrolling people without consent.
3. Red flags that end the call
Medicare doesn’t cold-call to sell or verify anything — an unexpected “this is Medicare” call is already the answer. No legitimate caller asks you to pay by gift card, wire or crypto, and no real agent needs your full Social Security number to “check eligibility”. Caller ID saying “Medicare” or a local number means nothing — spoofing is trivial. And urgency is the tell that ties them all together: real enrollment gives you weeks; scammers give you minutes.
4. What to do when the phone rings
Hang up — politeness is the hook these scripts rely on. If you think the issue might be real, call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) yourself or log in at medicare.gov: anything genuine will be visible there. Want help comparing plans during Open Enrollment? Use medicare.gov’s Plan Finder or your state’s free SHIP counselor — people you called, not people who called you. Never confirm your Medicare number, SSN or bank details to an inbound caller, even one who already knows some of your information.
5. Cut the calls off at the source
Filters help: register at donotcall.gov, enable the carrier’s free scam filter (AT&T ActiveArmor, Verizon Call Filter, T-Mobile Scam Shield) and the phone’s own screening — our stop-spam-calls guide has the full setup. But the durable fix is upstream: the calling lists are built from data-broker and people-search listings, so removing your (or your parents’) phone and address from those sites shrinks every future list. Start with the data-broker opt-out guide or our phone-number removal guide.
6. If information already slipped out
Gave a Medicare number to a caller? Report it at 1-800-MEDICARE, then read each Medicare Summary Notice for services you never received — billing your number for phantom equipment is the standard play. File the fraud at reportfraud.ftc.gov. If the SSN went too, freeze credit with all three bureaus (free, and it blocks new accounts). Then remove the exposed contact data from broker sites so the same lists don’t light up again next enrollment season — managing this for an aging parent is normal; our guide for protecting elderly parents covers doing it on their behalf.
See which sites are selling your number
The calling lists start at data brokers. PersProtect finds where your — or your parents’ — phone, age and address are listed across 499 broker and people-search sites, removes them, and keeps re-checking as listings come back. Start with a free scan.
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Does Medicare ever call me?
Almost never uninvited. Medicare may call back if you left a message with 1-800-MEDICARE, or a plan you already belong to may contact you about your coverage — but Medicare does not cold-call to sell plans, "verify" your number, or offer refunds. An unexpected call that opens with Medicare is the tell in itself.
How do I know if a call about my Medicare plan is real?
Don’t decide on the call. Hang up, then dial 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) yourself or log in at medicare.gov. If a licensed agent you actually requested is calling, they can verify through the official channel you initiated. Caller ID that shows "Medicare" proves nothing — spoofing the name is standard practice in these operations.
What happens if a scammer got my Medicare number?
Call 1-800-MEDICARE right away and report it, then watch your Medicare Summary Notices for services or equipment you never received — that’s how the number gets monetized. Report the fraud at reportfraud.ftc.gov too. If your Social Security number was also given, add a free credit freeze with the three bureaus.
Why do the scam calls explode every October?
Open Enrollment (October 15 – December 7) is the one window when switching plans is normal, so a pressure call fits the season perfectly. Scam operations buy calling lists in advance — age, phone, address and even current insurer are for sale from data brokers and insurance lead-generation sites — and the dialing ramps up from early September.
How do I stop these calls for my parents?
Register their number on the Do Not Call Registry, turn on the carrier’s free scam filter and the phone’s built-in spam screening — and then remove their listings from data brokers, which is where the calling lists come from in the first place. You can run removals on a parent’s behalf; our guide for protecting elderly parents walks through it.
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