ACA Identity Theft Scam: FTC Fraud Alert
by Debra N. Diener J.D. CIPP G
The Supreme Court had barely issued its ruling on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) when the scammers were out in full force. They’re calling people and are using the ACA to try and trick you into turning over personal and/or financial information. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued an alert about the scam to help warn people (www.ftc.gov, “FTC Alert: Scammers Out to Trick Consumers Using the Supreme Court’s Affordable Care Act Ruling”).
What’s the scam? The callers say they’re from the Federal government and that they need to verify some information because of the ACAruling. They might have somehow gotten your bank’s routing number so they say they need to confirm your entire bank account number. Or maybe they ask for your credit or debit card number, or your Social Security Number, or your Medicare ID or some other personal and/or financial information.
This is a sadly slick scheme, timed perfectly to trick people into believing they need to comply to get ACA medical benefits. Only the scamming thieves will benefit. Using the stolen identity information, they can open accounts (credit, checking, savings), take out loans, write bad checks on bank accounts, rake up charges on credit cards, debit checking accounts and ruin your credit.
Read more about this and other ACA and medical scams on the FTC’s website. If you get a call, file a complaint with the FTC at www.ftc.gov or call them at 1-877-FTC-HELP.
As the FTC said in the alert, this scam is enough to make you sick. Don’t fall for it and warn others about it as well.
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Ms. Diener is now an independent consultant on privacy, identity management, information protection and risk management. She served in senior managerial, legal, policy and legislative positions in all three branches of the Federal government. In addition to her privacy expertise, Ms. Diener played a lead role on such important domestic and international issues as criminal justice/law enforcement and financial services. She speaks frequently at industry and governmental conferences and meetings.
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