Open enrollment for Medicare and other plans offered under the Affordable Care Act is underway. Here’s how scammers are using this time to try to steal personal and even health information.

Open enrollment for Affordable Care act plans lasts through the holidays, so there is still plenty of time for you to fall victim to a scam that returns every year around this time.

During this time, scammers are trying to make you feel like they can help when instead they’re just going to steal your personal information.

“They’re looking for that opportunity of an easy, ‘Here give me your social and then we’ll steal your identity,’” said Amie Mitchell, the President of the Better Business Bureau (BBB) in Tulsa.

Mitchell says while many of us are leery of telemarketers already, when one calls pretending to be a government agency or the health insurance your company uses, we may feel pressured to stay on the line and provide personal information or even payment.

This time of year, scammers are making cold calls pretending to be your personal navigators or assistants for open enrollment. Some even say they have inside knowledge of good deals within government programs if you’re going the Affordable Care Act route.

“What we’re seeing right now are phone calls to consumers that say, ‘Hey we want to help you save money and change your Medicare plan that would be better for you.’ Be really careful if anyone calls you out of the blue to change your Medicare plan, you’re probably looking at a scam,” Mitchell said.

The BBB says to keep the following in mind the following when navigating open enrollment, especially with federal government health plans:

• Be wary of anyone who contacts you out of the blue.
• There are people who are called navigators or assistors, but you must contact the agency first and they do not charge for their services and can’t take payment.
• Be wary of free gifts and “health screenings.” Scammers will try to entice you to hand over your information with gifts or promises of discounts if you sign up right now and hand over your information.
• Guard your government issued ID numbers.
• Use government websites directly and don’t use third parties.
• Even if you are signing up for a health care plan through your employer, be cautious. When in doubt, ask your employer if emails or calls are part of the process to enroll.

Whether it be with open enrollment or as we’ve reported on when it comes to local law enforcement, most government agencies do not do cold sales calls.

If you are ever in doubt any time of the year, hang up and then call the agency back who allegedly reached out to you to confirm the agency is trying to get in touch with you before you proceed.

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