New scam to watch out for

A new insurance scam has emerged recently. The scam consists of a telemarketer urging a prospect or target to pay cash up front for the health insurance policy they are selling. This is one of the biggest red flags and one of the most common forms of health insurance fraud.

It is important to remember that agents for Medicare and/or Medicaid, do not call people to sell insurance. If you are about to buy a health insurance policy over the phone and you are asked for money hang up immediately — it is clearly a scam. Often scammers will try and get the target to send them money or to divulge personal details such as their Medicare number, bank account information, credit card information or other personal identifiers.

The more information a scammer can get, the greater the chance of identity theft or money theft. Be wary of anyone selling health insurance over the phone.