Scammers Targeting Greenwich Seniors

Seniors beware!

There's apparently a new scam circulating on the phones that, if you're caught at the wrong moment, you could become a victim to thieves looking to loot your bank accounts.

, told Greenwich Patch that on Wednesday, an older Greenwich woman called him to report she received a phone call regarding her Medicare coverage and Social Security card. She became suspicious when the "man with a heavy accent" began asking specific  information regarding her bank accounts.

"She hung up. We just need to get people to hand up and not respond to questions," Deibler said.

The apparent scammers are preying upon seniors hoping to cash in on pending changes in Social Security payments — but those changes don't take effect until March 1, 2013. The scammers are focusing on the March 1st date, causing seniors to believe — with March 1st a little more than a week away — they are at risk, not realizing the change won't become effective for more than a year, Deibler said.

The Feb. 22 incident, Deibler said, "A senior just called about a new scam.  She got a call this morning from a person identifying themselves as being from Medicare. They told her that they were sending her a "new Medicare card" that she was to take with her to the doctor on her next visit. She was told not to throw away her old Medicare card until after that first visit.

"Then the caller told her that he needed to get some information from her
about her bank accounts regarding a new requirement that Social Security
payments will no longer be made by mailed checks. At that point, the
senior realized it was a scam and she hung up."

Deibler says the scam involves the caller describing normal procedures regarding Medicare cards. "The first part of it was plausible ... it sounded legitimate. It wasn't until he got into bank account information she thought the call was legitimate."

"As of March 1, 2013, it is true that recipients will no longer
receive mailed Social Security checks. Those recipients who do not have
bank accounts for direct deposit will be sent a Direct Express® card.
Social Security will deposit the federal benefit payment directly into the
recipient's card account," Deibler said. "The monthly benefits will be available on theusual payment day. The card can be used to make purchases, pay bills or get cash at what the SSA says are "thousands of locations."

He added, "In the meantime, this change will mean that over the course of this next year, creative scammers will come up with dozens of scams that exploit
seniors' confusion."

Sgt. Mark Zuccerella, head of the Greenwich Police Special Victims Section, said, "The government doesn't call you they send letters. Out of the millions of people, they will not call. A call about (Medicare and Social Security), it wreaks, it stinks with a scam." He added, "If you don't have a bank account set up, the SSA (Social Security Administration) will send a letter on how to set it up."

Deibler added, "You can be sure (this) will be a magnet to less scrupulous people" to try to rip off seniors. "It's a population that's vulnerable."

Deibler advises seniors who receive such calls should contact Greenwich Police who periodically conduct security seminars for seniors.

Zuccerella said that local police can act as a clearing house to gather information on the scam calls, however, seniors also should report the calls to the Social Security Administration using the telephone numbers of their SS cards.

The non-emergency phone for Greenwich Police is (203) 622-8006.

*Editor's note: this story has been updated to include information from Greenwich Police.