Medicare’s Open Enrollment runs from October 15 to December 7, and every year that six-week window brings a surge of calls, texts and emails from people posing as Medicare, an insurer or a helpful “benefits adviser.” The pitch is built around one goal: prying loose a Medicare number, a bank account or a signature on a plan the caller earns a commission to sell. The Federal Trade Commission’s most recent tally shows the scale of the problem, with impostor fraud costing consumers billions and older adults bearing an outsized share of the losses.
Why Open Enrollment is prime time for the calls
The enrollment window is the one stretch of the year when it is normal for a Medicare beneficiary to be comparing plans, weighing drug coverage and fielding marketing. Scammers exploit that expectation. A cold call about “this year’s new benefits” or a “reissued Medicare card” blends into the legitimate marketing noise, which is exactly what makes it effective.
Impersonation is the core tactic. The FTC’s guidance on Medicare impersonators notes that real Medicare will not call uninvited to sell a plan, will not threaten to cancel coverage, and will not demand a Medicare number to keep benefits active. A caller who does any of those things is running a script, not administering a benefit.
The urgency is manufactured. A fraudster wants a decision before the target can hang up and verify, so the call arrives wrapped in a deadline, a supposed penalty or a limited-time offer that evaporates if the person does not act immediately.
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What the fraud actually costs
The money at stake is not hypothetical. The FTC reported that people lost a record $3.5 billion to impostor scams in 2025, making impersonation the single most-reported fraud category. Government and health-program impostors, the family that includes Medicare callers, account for a substantial slice of that total.
Older Americans lose the most in absolute dollars. The same agency data show that reported losses from older adults who were defrauded of more than $100,000 climbed to $445 million in 2024, an eightfold jump from $55 million in 2020. A single successful call can cost a retiree years of savings, because the money often moves through wire transfers, gift cards or cryptocurrency that banks cannot reverse once it leaves the account.
The damage is not always an immediate withdrawal. A stolen Medicare number can be used to bill fraudulent services, which inflates program costs and can leave a beneficiary fighting to correct a claims record. That is why the number itself is treated as sensitive as a Social Security number.
The pitches are increasingly specific. Callers dangle a “new” plastic Medicare card, a nonexistent “flex card” or grocery-and-rent allowance, free braces or genetic-testing kits, or a supposed refund of past premiums, each script engineered to extract a Medicare number or a bank account. Some warn that coverage will lapse unless the beneficiary “confirms” identifying details on the spot. The common thread is that a real benefit never hinges on surrendering sensitive numbers to an unsolicited caller.
The moves that stop the loss
The defensive rule is simple and consistent: no legitimate Medicare or insurance representative places an unsolicited call demanding a Medicare number, a bank routing number or a payment to preserve coverage. When a call arrives, the safe response is to hang up and dial 1-800-MEDICARE directly, using the number printed on the official card rather than any number the caller provides.
Plan decisions should start at the source. Comparing coverage through the official Medicare Plan Finder, a State Health Insurance Assistance Program counselor, or a licensed agent the beneficiary sought out keeps the transaction off the phone lines scammers control. An offer that can only be accepted right now, over the phone, is a warning sign in itself.
Guarding the Medicare number is the other half of the defense. It should be shared only with trusted providers and pharmacists, never with an unexpected caller, and a beneficiary should review the quarterly Medicare Summary Notice for charges that never happened.
Enrolling through the wrong channel carries its own price. High-pressure marketers sometimes switch a beneficiary into a Medicare Advantage plan that drops the person’s doctors or preferred drugs, a change that can mean thousands of dollars in unexpected out-of-pocket costs the following year. Confirming that current physicians and prescriptions remain covered before signing keeps a “free plan review” from quietly narrowing coverage.
Reporting a call and undoing the damage
Suspected fraud has a clear reporting path. Medicare directs beneficiaries to report suspected fraud and abuse to 1-800-MEDICARE, and the FTC collects scam reports at ReportFraud.ftc.gov, where investigators use the pattern data to warn the public through ongoing consumer alerts. A Senior Medicare Patrol volunteer can help a beneficiary read a confusing statement and flag improper billing.
Speed matters when money has already moved. A person who sent a wire or gave up account details should contact the bank immediately, because a fast report occasionally allows a transfer to be stopped before it clears. Anyone who handed over a Medicare or Social Security number should watch statements closely and consider a credit freeze.
Financial institutions can supply another layer of protection. A beneficiary worried about impulsive transfers can ask a bank about transaction alerts, a trusted-contact designation, and holds on large or unusual withdrawals, tools that give a family member a chance to intervene before money leaves for a fraudster. Those safeguards cost nothing and work quietly in the background through the busiest weeks of enrollment.
The through-line for the season is that the calls are engineered to feel routine at the exact moment plan-shopping is expected. Treating every unsolicited Medicare pitch as unverified until proven otherwise is what separates a wasted phone call from a five-figure loss.
This article was researched and drafted with the assistance of AI and reviewed by The Money Overview editorial team.
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