I’m beginning to memorize the phone number 1-800-633-4227 – that’s the national Medicare line and I have learned that the first two words I should speak to the automated attendant are “Medicare fraud…” That gets you right through to an agent… good to know if you ever need it! In fact, we have had to learn the phone numbers for numerous agencies to report fraud of several types.
A few years ago, we were notified by Experian, the credit protection folks, that Janet’s account was suspected of being hacked by someone in rural Texas. Sure enough, somebody got her social security number and opened a Spectrum TV account using Janet’s ID info. It ended up being a nightmare. Yes, we got the charges reversed and also restored her credit – and Experian was helpful in leading us down the right pathways. We had to contact a number of agencies and put a fraud warning on her account. It did, in fact, for a time affect her ability to get additional credit as people were dubious about her identity.
Then last summer, we faced a number of false Medicare claims on her account. It seems that some fraudulent operations were billing Medicare for Covid tests that we neither ordered nor received. Each time we received a quarterly statement, you can count on the fact that some of the charges were erroneous. I was on with Medicare so much that Janet authorized me to handle her account and that made things much easier. I am sure that there were at least ten fraud claims on her account. Thankfully, we also got that straightened out. I also want to put in a plug for the folks at Medicare. They were awesome and it is almost a delight to speak with them if you have to clear something like this up.
All was well until earlier this week when we received a thank you letter from Medicare thanking Janet for opening up an online Medicare account. Uh-oh… she didn’t do that. We have the standard socialsecurity.gov accounts for both of us but never realized that there was additional info available if we wanted to set up specific Medicare reporting accounts. So… I was on the phone again with our friends at Medicare. Sure enough, someone created a fake account using Janet’s Medicare number, initial benefit month and other identifiers. Clearly, this was identity theft once again…
I won’t bore you with all the details of three days of confusion, intrigue, lockouts, frustrations and insecurity but suffice it to say that Medicare, while trying to be helpful, found themselves in a tough situation. They deactivated the fraudulent account, but that also meant that Janet couldn’t get a legitimate account. Incorrect passwords, hacked email addresses and other problems prevented us from gaining access.
Finally, last Thursday evening, we were able to get connected with a supervisor who had the authority to delete, rather than merely inactivate, the fraudulent account. She then stayed on the line with me while we created a legitimate account for Janet. By the way, I also set one up for me! I questioned how things like this happen. After all, Medicare went from social security numbers to unique identifiers years ago. But this hasn’t cut down on the fraud they are seeing in the system.
Thursday morning, I was even contacted by a supposed “agent” at Medicare who actually tried to convince me that he was with the government. He read off her actual number! I couldn’t believe it. When I reported this to Medicare, they didn’t recommend changing her number. They were convinced that with a new account, with two factor authentification, we should have control. Perhaps this is all stemming from the issue we had in Texas several years ago, but identity theft is no laughing matter. As I sit here tonight, we are grateful that we have overcome, once again, a case of fraud perpetrated on Janet.
The first instance of identity theft in the Bible came in the Garden of Eden when Satan, in the form of a serpent, caused Adam and Eve to question the motives of God. Jacob also stole his brother’s identity to get the blessing from their father Isaac. And almost every leader in the Bible has struggled with issues of identity at one time or another. So we are in good company.
While Experian is a great earthly protector of our identities, Jesus is better! We have identity theft protection with Him. Our verse for tonight comes from the Gospel of John. We have assurance with Christ. John tells us, in John 10:10, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
My encouragement this evening is that our protection against everything evil was purchased when Jesus died on the cross, and it is in place for all eternity. The blood of Christ is our protection. His sacrifice ensured that we have victory and the grace to resist every assault of Satan and evil. With Christ, our identity is safe – forever! My prayer is that when we are challenged with fraud and other acts of evil designed to hurt us, we will remember the ultimate password that we have – Jesus wins! And so do we… The price was paid and we are protected eternally. Have a great day in the Lord, grace and peace…