Medicare and other scam phone calls reported along Outer Banks
Published 1:08 pm Wednesday, September 7, 2022
For the last few weeks, Kill Devil Hills resident Ronald Lamothe has been getting between one and four phone calls a day from people claiming to represent Medicare and asking for the name of his doctor, his preferred hospital and his Medicare number.
Sometimes callers say that they need information so they can replace his paper Medicare card with a plastic one; others claim to be calling from the hospital to verify his personal information.
Lamothe is familiar with scams – but what got his attention is that these have been from local phone numbers. He’s noticed calls from 10-15 different numbers, but when he’s tried to call back to verify authenticity, the numbers will not receive incoming calls.
According to KDH Police Captain J.C. Towler Jr., this is one of many scams that the police department is aware of recently. Others include people pretending to be an IRS agent seeking to collect back taxes; an ICE or FBI agent that has intercepted a “suspicious package” containing drugs and requiring the caller to pay a fine; pretending to be a local law enforcement officer (typically with the Sheriff’s Department) collecting a fine for a missed court date or jury duty; the power company threatening to shut off power due to unpaid bills; a lottery…
