Insurance scams: Health, Life, Auto, Medical and other scams

Insurance scams are one of the fastest growing areas of scams today. Did you receive an email from your insurance company saying you missed a payment that you are sure you made?  It may be a scam. Did you get a phone call from someone claiming to be from Healthcare.gov, Obamacare or the Affordable Care Insurance Agency?  Again, likely to be a scam. 

See the links below to compare what you received against the most common scams and learn how to recognize a scam.

Learn about specific types of insurance scams:

 

Warning signs of a potential scam or scammer:

Learning how to recognize an insurance scam can help you avoid becoming a victim. Insurance scams come in many forms and some are easier to detect than others.

  •  People ask you for money to enroll you in Marketplace or "Obamacare" insurance. Legitimate Healthcare.gov enrollment assisters will NOT ask for money.
  • High-pressure tactics in person, on the phone or in mail or email. Usually from people claiming to work for the government. No one should threaten you with legal action if you do not sign up for an insurance plan.
  • Requests for personal information from people who you did not contact first. This is likely to be identity theft. No one from the government will call or email you to sell you an insurance plan or ask for personal identifying information.
  • Fake, spoofed websites. Always check the web address.  It should be .gov, not .com or something else. The scammers can fake official-looking government seals and logos, so it doesn't mean anything if it looks official!
  • If the email, letter or phone call refers to you with a generic title, like "Dear member" that is often a sign of a scam.  Your real insurance provider has you name and will use it.

Tips to avoid being scammed:

  • Be careful when giving out personal information, such as credit card, bank account numbers, or Social Security numbers.
  • Always ask for identification if someone comes to your door.
  • Don't sign paperwork unless you have read and understand it.
  • Don't respond to letters or emails asking you to wire money via Western Union MoneyGrams.
  •  If you are a Medicare beneficiary, you do NOT need to buy insurance in the new Health Insurance Marketplace.
  • For guideance about health insurance see our sister website, ConsumersHealthcareGuide.org.

How to report insurance scams

  • File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission: Complaint Form
  • See your state insurance fraud reporting agency.
  • If you suspect identity theft, or feel like you gave your personal information to someone you shouldn't have, use the Federal Trade Commission's online Complaint Assistant.You should also contact your local police department. Visit www.ftc.gov/idtheft  to learn more about identity theft.
  • Call the Health Insurance Marketplace call center at 1-800-318-2596 (TTY: 1-855-889-4325). Explain what happened and your information will be handled appropriately.

And please let us know about any suspicious calls or emails you receive.  We look for patterns so that we can alert the authorities and victims to new scams, before it is too late!

 

 

 

For a comprehensive list of national and international agencies to report scams, see this page.