Medicare scam calls are on the rise nationwide. These scams often involve unsolicited calls, emails, or text messages from individuals pretending to represent Medicare, a healthcare provider, or another official organization. Their goal is to steal your personal or financial information—including your Medicare number, Social Security number, or bank account details.

Your security is paramount at Community Care Physicians. While this is not specific to our practice, as a courtesy, we want to help you stay informed and protected. We hope this information is helpful to you.

Things to look for to help identify scams

When in doubt, hang up with the caller and directly contact your doctor’s office or Medicare to verify the call is legitimate (verify the phone number on the back of your insurance card, your doctor’s office website, a previous statement, don’t just call the phone number the caller provides etc). There’s no harm in politely saying, “let me call you right back.”  – Community Care Physicians

• Unsolicited contact – If you receive a call claiming to be from Medicare or your doctor’s office, but you didn’t initiate it or weren’t told beforehand to expect it, it could be a scam.
• Requests for sensitive information – Medicare and legitimate healthcare providers will never call you out of the blue to ask for your Medicare number, Social Security number, or bank account details.
• Pressure tactics – Scammers may try to rush you—claiming you’ll lose a refund or your benefits will be canceled if you don’t act quickly.
• Too-good-to-be-true offers – Beware of offers for new Medicare cards, pre-approved plans, or free medical supplies in exchange for personal information.
• Refund or overpayment claims – Scammers may claim you’re owed a refund but ask for your banking information to “process” it.

What is Caller ID Spoofing?

What you should know:

Lately, caller ID spoofing is on the rise as scammers and technology become more sophisticated. Scammers may use technology to make it appear that the call is coming from a local number—even one that falsely displays Community Care Physicians’ caller ID or reference a “CCP provider” in an attempt to push medical equipment or collect personal information. These calls are not legitimate and are not originating from CCP.

Unfortunately, there is currently no legislation that prevents scammers from spoofing phone numbers, including our own. While we cannot stop these calls directly, we want to equip you with important information to protect yourself.

If you’re ever unsure:

Ask for the caller’s name, department, and extension.

Hang up.

Call your Community Care Physicians doctor’s office directly to confirm.

What Community Care Physicians Will—and Won’t—Do

Community Care Physicians will never:

• Request sensitive information like your social security number or bank account details by unsolicited phone call, email or text.
• Promote or offer unsolicited genetic testing, medical supplies, or other services.
• If something feels off, hang up and call your doctor’s office directly. We are always happy to verify.

Community Care Physicians may:

• Ask for personal or payment information when you initiate or expect a call from us—for example, to confirm an appointment or process a payment that you are aware of and owe.
• We may contact you for an outstanding bill, but only after you have received an initial statement by mail or text message from us.

Examples of legitimate communications from CCP and our offices:

• Text messages, emails, appointment reminders and links to check in before your appointment – Community Care Physicians sends patient communications directly from our practices and also through our partners, Solution Reach and Phreesia. Before your scheduled appointments (in person and virtual) you will receive appointment confirmations/reminders and links to check in for your appointment to your contact phone number and/or email on file with your doctor’s office.
  
  Messages may come from:

• • Your doctor’s office’s main number via text.
  • Text messages may be sent from 866-785-3502.
  • Email addresses with your practice’s name and main phone number from an email address ending in @remindmemd.com.
  • Email address [email protected], including your practice’s name and main phone number.
• Surveys or request for feedback after a visit – our patients are randomly surveyed via text and email you have on file to provide valuable feedback about your experience in an effort to improve. The text message or email you receive will take you to a secure website that looks like this: https://reptn.io/….
• Requests to sign up for our patient portal, in partnership with FollowMyHealth, to communicate securely with your CCP doctor’s office. Any email from our portal FollowMyHealth will be from [email protected]. This includes invitations, updates, etc.
• Billing portal – if you have a bill with Community Care Physicians and a cell phone number/email address on file with us, you may receive a text/email message welcoming you to our digital billing world with a link to view your statement and make a payment. This link will take you to a secure landing page where you must authenticate your identity before accessing your account. Depending on where patients are in the billing cycle, the text message may arrive before statement comes in the mail. To avoid this process altogether, patients can pay their copay at the time of service or before your visit when you receive that communication to check in. For reference, this is the sample message you will receive from (518) 864-1462 and email from [email protected]:

 

Resources for Medicare and Other Fraud

Follow these trusted resources for reporting and education if you receive a suspicious call that didn’t originate from us, once you check with your doctor’s office:

• Report Fraud to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC):
  🔗 ReportFraud.ftc.gov
  For reporting phone scams and other types of fraud.
• FTC Consumer Advice – How to Stop Unwanted Calls:
  🔗 How to Stop Unwanted Calls
• File a Complaint with the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3):
  🔗 IC3.gov
  A central point for reporting cybercrime including phone-based fraud.
• For Medicare-Related Scams:
  • 🔗 Avoiding Government Impersonation Scams
  • 🔗 Report Medicare Fraud & Abuse
  • Or call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) directly.

We encourage you to remain vigilant.