Callers try to scam elderly Ridgefield woman

Written by Kate Czaplinski, Press Staff
Friday, 06 November 2009 15:16

A Ridgefielder is warning of a telephone scam from people claiming to be Medicare representatives. The callers attempted to convince her elderly mother to release personal information over the phone.

Noana Whitehead was visiting her mother today in town when a telephone call came from people claiming to be in the “Medicare Verification Department.”

Ms. Whitehead took the phone from her mother when she suspected something was odd about the questions her mother was asked.

The callers were very convincing.

“They knew my mom’s name and address and said that Medicare has changed it’s policy and will issue all new cards because of problems with fraud,” Ms. Whitehead said.

“They said we’d get the new cards in two days but in the meantime they needed verification of who she was, like a checking account number.”

Ms. Whitehead refused to release her mother’s personal information unless the callers could verify they were from Medicare.

The callers offered a phone number and confirmation number, though she still wasn’t convinced.

Ms. Whitehead spoke to someone who claimed to be a supervisor. The callers were polite and convincing but when Ms. Whitehead asked for proof and asked them to tell her the last four digits of her mother’s Social Security number, they said they needed to end the call.

Ms. Whitehead said the scam was clearly targeting the elderly and the scammers sounded professional and had foreign accents.

She reported the attempt the police and called a number of consumer protection hotlines.

“I just want to get it out there so people know it’s happening,” she said.

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