Medicare scam calls: what to know
Medicare Open Enrollment: October 15 to December 7. Open Enrollment is when you can change your Medicare plan, and it is also when calls, texts and visits from people pretending to be Medicare arrive. Here is how to tell, in plain English.
What real Medicare will not do
- Call, text or email you out of the blue to ask for your Medicare number or a payment.
- Call you to sell you anything, or visit you at your home.
- Charge you for a Medicare card. Cards are free and come in the mail.
If somebody calls about Medicare
- Do not give your Medicare number, Social Security number or bank details to anybody who called you.
- Do not trust the name on the screen. Caller ID can be faked, so a call that says “Medicare” may not be.
- Hang up, and call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) yourself.
- It is always all right to hang up. A real office will still be there when you call back.
Where to get honest help choosing a plan
- Medicare.gov, or call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227).
- Your State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP), at shiphelp.org, for one-on-one counseling.
- Somebody you trust, sitting beside you, before you agree to anything.
Where to report a scam
- 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227).
- ReportFraud.ftc.gov, which helps the next person.
- The Senior Medicare Patrol, at smpresource.org.
If you already gave your number
You are not the first, and there are things to do straight away. Call 1-800-MEDICARE and tell them what happened, then report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. If you gave bank details too, call your bank on the number printed on your card.
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Where this comes from
Checked against these official pages on September 24, 2026. Lantern is not part of Medicare or the government.