Scammers going after senior citizens

The open enrollment for Medicare is here and goes through December 7th.  

This is also a time that scammers are out in force trying to take advantage of senior citizens.

Text scams have become the most prevalent type of Medicare fraud, especially during open enrollment, as older adults increasingly use texting to communicate.

Charlotte Foust with the Joplin Area Agency on Aging tells Newstalk KZRG, text scams:

“That is the most common because everyone is now with the technology. A lot of our older adults who were resistant to the technology are now all about texting. So that is extremely prevalent. But it’s also agents just showing up to your door without you contacting them first to make an appointment. And that happens. It’s illegal, but it does happen.”

Charlotte Faust urged calling insurance companies directly using known numbers rather than links or numbers in suspicious messages.

Older adults are encouraged to verify any suspicious mail or visits by contacting the Joplin Area Agency on Aging for confirmation.