Beware of new phone scam

Published 7:00 am Wednesday, March 15, 2017

A new telephone scam alters caller ID information to make it look like the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General Hotline, 1-800-HHS-TIPS (1-800-447-8477). These scammers try to get Medicare beneficiaries and other members of the public to verify or share personal information, which they use to drain bank accounts or divert Social Security benefits.

The OIG will not use the OIG Hotline phone number to make outgoing calls and individuals should not answer calls from 1-800-HHS-TIPS (1-800-447-8477). OIG also encourages those who believe they may have been a victim of the scam to report it to OIG either through its hotline at 1-800-HHS-TIPS (1-800-447-8477) or via email at spoof@oig.hhs.gov.

Consumers can also file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission at 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357).