Is that call really from Medicare? Open Enrollment calls
September 25, 2026
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Show Notes
Eddie and Betty's Conversation
Welcome back to The American Retirement Advisor. I'm here with Eddie, as always, and today we are talking about something that is genuinely a little unsettling, but also really important, especially if you or someone you love is on Medicare. It's Open Enrollment season, and the scammers know it just as well as we do.
Thanks for having me. And yeah, this one came from Ian Schaeffer, our COO, which tells you something. He's an engineer by background, not an advisor, and he wrote this piece specifically because he takes the technical side of fraud seriously. When the engineer is writing about phone scams, pay attention.
That detail made me read it more carefully. Like, this isn't someone making a general safety announcement. He clearly dug into this.
He did. And the timing matters. Open Enrollment runs October 15 through December 7, and Ian's point is that the people running these scams know exactly what week it opens. They plan around it the same way a retailer plans around the holidays.
Okay, so let's start with the number that stopped me cold, because when I read it I had to go back and read it again. The FBI tracks losses from fraud against people 60 and older, and Eddie, the number for last year...
Seven point seven four eight billion dollars in reported losses. Up 59 percent from the year before. And the average loss per person was thirty-eight thousand five hundred dollars.
That is not a nuisance. That is someone's retirement savings.
And that's the average. Twelve thousand, four hundred and forty-four people lost more than a hundred thousand dollars. In a single year. And those are only the people who reported it.
Right, Ian makes that point too. That's just the ones who came forward. So the real number is almost certainly bigger.
Which is the part that should make everyone take this seriously. This is not a few unlucky people clicking bad links. This is an industrial-scale operation aimed specifically at people on Medicare, during Open Enrollment, because that's when they're expecting calls.
Okay, so here's my first question, because I think a lot of us just assume they'll call if something's wrong. Like, if my plan is changing, won't they reach out?
This is the single most useful thing in the whole article. Medicare's own fraud page says, and this is a direct quote, 'Medicare will never call you to sell you anything or visit you at your home.' Almost never calls you at all. The only times Medicare or a plan it works with would call you are: you called them first and they're calling back, you joined a plan, you reported fraud, or you left a message.
So if a call comes in out of nowhere and says 'this is Medicare,' that's already wrong.
That's two false things at once, Ian points out. It didn't call, and it doesn't need you to read back the number they issued you.
Wait, so what should make my ears perk up on a call like that?
A caller who says 'I just need to verify your Medicare number to pull up your file.' Anyone who legitimately has your file does not need you to read it to them. That's the tell.
What about agents? Because during Open Enrollment there are a lot of legitimate plan calls too, right? Or are there?
This surprised me. Federal rules say a Medicare Advantage plan or a drug plan and their representatives may not cold-call people who haven't asked to be contacted. No cold calls, no robocalls, no unsolicited texts or voicemails.
Wait, that's a rule? Because my phone absolutely does not behave like that in October.
Ha. No, it does not. And Ian lists the specific tricks the rule was actually written to stop: calling on a referral without permission, calling people who left a plan, calling people who attended a sales event, and calling to 'confirm' that you got something in the mail.
The 'confirm you got our letter' one is so sneaky. That sounds completely innocent.
That's why it works. The exceptions are narrow: your own current plan can call you, and an agent you already work with can call you because you gave them the number. That's basically it. A stranger calling about a plan you've never heard of is either breaking the rule or lying about who they are.
And Ian's point is you don't even need to figure out which.
Both end the same way. Hang up and call back on the number you already have.
Okay, but here's where it gets scary for me. Because we all kind of assume we'd recognize a scam call. And then Ian describes what these calls sound like.
Yeah. The FBI's own report flags that fake voices and fake images are, quote, 'becoming increasingly difficult to detect and easier to make.' And Ian points out that a voice can now be cloned from thirty seconds of video. Thirty seconds.
That is terrifying. And we've all put that much of ourselves out there on the internet.
Pretty much everyone has. So the grandchild scam, which has been around a while, just got a massive upgrade. It's not someone doing a vague impression anymore. It can be a voice that sounds like your actual grandchild.
In trouble, needing money, before anyone else can be told. That's how it goes, right?
That's the script. Urgency, secrecy, and a voice you recognize. It's designed to bypass your analytical brain completely and go straight to the part that loves that kid.
So how do you guard against that? Because telling someone 'think critically when you believe your grandchild is in danger' is not useful advice.
Ian has a specific answer for this one, and I love it. He says in his house they use a word. A plain, ordinary word, agreed on in advance by the family. Anyone asking for money on an incoming call gets asked for the word. Nobody has ever been offended.
A family code word. That's so simple.
And a cloned voice wouldn't know it. The clone can sound like your grandchild. It cannot know a word your family picked last Sunday at dinner.
I think we need a word.
We are not picking it on a podcast.
Fair. Okay, the other version of the scam that got me was the one where the caller already knows things about you. Your name, your ZIP code, the name of a real plan in your area.
Right. And Ian's point is that used to feel like proof. If they know what plan is offered in my ZIP code, they must be legitimate. Now all three of those things are on the internet, publicly available, and scammers know how to find them.
So knowing my ZIP code proves nothing.
That's the whole point. Your name doesn't verify anything. A specific plan being sold in your county doesn't verify anything. The only thing that's clean is a call you initiated to a number you already had.
Which brings us to Ian's actual script for what to say when your phone rings. Because he gives you two sentences, which I appreciate. It's not a flowchart.
Two of them, and then hang up. 'I don't handle Medicare on incoming calls. I'll call the number on my card.' That's it.
And I love that it doesn't require you to decide in the moment whether the caller is legitimate.
That's exactly the point. You are not playing detective. You're not trying to catch them in a lie. You're just removing yourself from the incoming call entirely, and then verifying through a channel you control. If they were real, they'll be there when you call back.
And if it really was your grandchild...
They'll answer their own phone.
That line in the article is so good. Okay, what's the number to call if you want to report something or just verify something is real?
1-800-633-4227. Ian includes it, and it's also what Medicare gives for reporting a suspicious call. Same line for both.
So you're not even managing two different numbers. One number, put it in your phone right now.
Seriously, do it before October 15.
What about texts and emails? Because I feel like my mom is way more likely to click something than to stay on the phone with a scammer.
The federal marketing rule that covers cold calls explicitly includes unsolicited text messages and voicemails. So the rule applies equally. A text that says your plan is changing and to click a link gets the same response: two sentences typed back if you want, and then you call the number on your card.
Not the one in the text.
Never the number in the text. Never the link in the email. Ian says the real number is on the card in your wallet and on the letter your plan mailed you in September. Neither of those can be spoofed.
There's something almost old-fashioned and reassuring about that. The piece of paper in your wallet is more secure than the phone call.
In this particular situation, yes. The low-tech solution wins.
Okay, Ian ends the article with something I want to make sure we cover, because I think it reframes the whole thing. He talks about what a Certified Medicare Planner does differently. And it comes down to one thing.
They're the person you called. That's the whole difference, and he's direct about it. They don't need your number to answer a question. When enrollment requires it, you're the one who placed the call, you're sitting across a desk or on a line you dialed, and you know exactly why they need it.
So the entire threat model changes when you have someone like that on your side.
It really does. They also know which plans are sold in your county and what a legitimate plan letter looks like. So if you get something suspicious in the mail or a weird voicemail, you can hand it to them and they'll tell you in about a minute whether it's real.
That is worth a lot during October, when your inbox and all of it are both a mess.
The advisors at American Retirement Advisors can be reached at 602-281-3898. And Ian mentions that there are workshops coming up, no cost to attend, on October 2nd. Two locations: Foothills Library in Glendale at 10:30 in the morning, and Mustang Library in Scottsdale at 2:30 in the afternoon. You can register at 123easymedicare.com/medicare-workshop or call 877-220-1089.
I want to flag that these are in the Phoenix area, so if you're local, that's a real option. And if you're not, the phone number still works wherever you are.
Absolutely. And look, if anything we talked about today raises a specific question about your situation, whether it's about your current plan, something suspicious you already received, anything like that, don't try to sort it out from a podcast. That's a conversation for someone who knows the details.
Can I do a quick recap for anyone who's been listening while driving and may have missed a number?
Please.
Medicare almost never calls you, and never to sell. Plans and agents cannot cold-call you without your permission. And those two sentences Eddie just gave you? Memorize them. Practice them out loud if you have to, because when you're caught off guard on a real call, you want them to come out automatically. Keep that number handy too, 1-800-633-4227, so you're calling them back on your terms. Family code word. Never click the link in the text.
That's the whole playbook right there.
Ian Schaeffer wrote this, and for a piece about fraud mechanics it's a remarkably warm read. I think because you can tell he's actually concerned, not just covering a compliance topic.
That's what happens when the engineer gets personally bothered by something. You get very specific, very actionable guidance. The two-sentence script, the family word, the 'call the number on your card' discipline. None of that is vague.
Alright. If today's conversation made you think about someone you know who might need to hear this, share the episode. And if it made you realize you don't have a planner in your corner heading into Open Enrollment, that's the thing to fix first. Sit down with an advisor, someone who knows Medicare in your area, before October 15. The number again is 602-281-3898, or you can find the workshop details at 123easymedicare.com/medicare-workshop. Take care of yourself out there.