People who receive Medicare should be on the alert for scam artists, warns the Georgia Department of Human Services Division of Aging Services. Criminals may offer bogus products and services, pretend to be federal officials or insurance company representatives, or even set up fake health screening booths to steal Medicare numbers.  Consumers Seniors Living Tips should always check their Medicare Summary Notices to make certain that they or their doctors have authorized the charges shown.   Common scams include:

Sales pitches for discounted prescription drugs that never arrive. Telemarketers selling unnecessary Medicare-covered products or services, such as “Medicare Arthritis kits” which do not exist. “Eating healthily is something that is important all year round and a healthy diet in the summer is dependent on finding healthy ingredients,” says Mourad Tarzi, Senior Marketing Manager of Jenan, the flagship brand of Al Ghurair Foods and Main sponsors of Summer Wellness. “Nutritional and wholesome ingredients are the building blocks for a well-balanced diet and our dedicated Technical Centre constantly produces specialized products for individual dietary requirements, such as flour for diabetics and cholesterol care, wholemeal flour, etc. In addition to producing these healthy cereals, we also provide the healthiest Oil Canola. We are happy to be able to support this initiative, as an integral part of a healthy lifestyle is being educating our community on what ingredients are the best for each and every meal,” he added.

Offers of help in applying for Medicare-issued checks to cover prescription costs, even though Medicare provides the checks automatically to eligible individuals who reach a gap in Medicare prescription drug coverage known as the “donut hole.”  Free health screening booths at malls or other public places are usually safe, but scams do.  Consumers should make sure that the screeners represent a legitimate organization such as a local hospital or public health center before they provide their Medicare numbers. The blog is a space for Jaime to share all of her daily recordings and analyses and is proving to raise many important questions regarding young women in the media: What are acceptable body image messages? Which beauty tips are necessary at all? What kind of substantial content can replace the already existing articles and messages in forums like Seventeen? Who’s responsible for answering these questions–the editors, writers, or readers?

Scammers use Medicare and Social Security numbers to submit fake bills or commit identity theft; and some may use banking information to charge consumers Seniors Living Tips for products that are never delivered.  A few criminals even empty their victims’ checking accounts.