Elderly Can Be Easy Targets of Scheme - Menomonee Falls, WI Patch

Elderly Can Be Easy Targets of Medicare Fraud Scheme - Menomonee Falls, WI Patch: "Hello, this is Medicare calling. Your card has expired. We need to have your old number so we can send you a new Medicare card.

The voice on the other end of the phone line may be a stranger but the message is becoming all-too-familiar. Recent news and discussion about possible changes in Medicare drug benefits has sparked an increase in these kinds of calls with opportunistic scammers trying to convince the elderly to give out personal information.

Medicare and other types of consumer fraud are on the rise in this country and senior citizens are continually vulnerable because they are assumed to have money. There is also a general perception that the elderly are reluctant to report fraud."