Yesterday, I got a call on my landline, and the Caller I.D. display showed that an old acquaintance was calling, so I picked up the phone. It turned out to be a scam call originating–I think–from the Indian subcontinent.
The scammer claimed that he was calling from the Social Security Administration, and was checking to see if I had gotten “the new Medicare card that we are issuing”. Because I have a valid Medicare card, and because I knew this to be a scam, in which they ask for your Medicare and/or Social Security number, I asked him the following:
If you are really calling from the Social Security Administration, why is my caller I.D. showing that you are Cecelia xxxxxxx?
If you are really calling from the SS Admin, why would you need to ask for my SS/Medicare number, since you already have that information?
After I made an additional comment about the legitimacy of his birth, he quietly hung up.