 I'm TJ Dunovan, Vermont's Attorney General, and I'm Monica Hutt, Commissioner at the Department of Disabilities, Aging, and Independent Living. Every year, hundreds of older Vermonters are victimized by professional scammers trying to rob you of your identity, your resources, and your sense of safety. But there is something you can do to protect yourself. This series, Stay Savvy Vermont, is designed to show you how those scams work and what they look like so that you can identify them and guard against them. Stay Savvy Vermont is a collaboration between the Vermont Attorney General's Office, the Department of Disabilities, Aging, and Independent Living, Cove, and Cove's SMP Savvy Seniors, and Orca Media. Our goal is to give you information to protect yourself and your families from scams. And to tell you what resources are available to you if you think you've already been scammed. This is information you can share with your friends, your family, anyone you think may be a target. Protecting ourselves, protecting each other, that's what we can do to combat professional scammers. We hope this series will be the first line in defense to keep ourselves and everybody safe and free from exploitation. Stay smart, stay safe, stay Savvy Vermont. What was it you saw Dr. Strangelove for back in November? That was to have a look at that spot on my neck. Oh, was that where I gave you the hickey? Don't be funny, Roger. I was worried about skin cancer. Well, so what do you do about it? You burned it all for that cold stuff, you know. You know, it took the scar two weeks to disappear. I was looking all over for sweaters with high neck collars. Is that all there was to it? Think so, boy. Do you have any idea how much that cost? No, it was covered by Medicare, wasn't it? After the most part, but do you have any idea how much it was? No, how much was it? Thirty thousand seven hundred and eighty nine dollars. What? Thirty thousand seven hundred and eighty nine dollars. Well, that's ridiculous. I agree it's ridiculous, but considering all the other things that Medicare got charged for, maybe it's not so ridiculous. What other things? Well, your prostate exam, for example. I didn't know you were having problems with your prostate. Maybe that explains why you've spent so much time in ladies' rooms. What in the world are you talking about, Roger? Let me see that. Oh, wait, wait, wait a minute. Oh, here's the big one. Bilateral breast enhancements. Wow, that was over thirty thousand dollars by itself. Beverly, I think you're holding out on me breast enhancements. What in the world are you talking about? Let me see this. Let me see this. This is all wrong. There's no mistake here. Obviously, he's mixed me up with someone else. I'm going to call Dr. Strange Love's office and find out what this is all about. You haven't given your Medicare number out to anyone have you. You know, that's a common cause of Medicare fraud. Of course not. Except several weeks ago, they called to say that my card had expired and they were going to send me a new one. Your card had expired? Medical cards don't expire. Did you give them your number? Oh, sure. They said they needed it to process the new card. Oh, honey, you've been scammed. We've got to let Cove know about this right away. I hope I've done something stupid. My stomachs are getting there hurt. Somewhere around here, I've got a brochure from Cove and have a number we can call. Come to think of it, that brochure may be upstairs. Why don't we go up there and look for it? And while we're up there, you can tell me more about these breast enhancements. What should I do if I get a call from someone about my Medicare card expiring? Medicare numbers are social security numbers. And it's among the most sensitive personal information that you have. It must be protected diligently. If somebody contacts you and asks you for that kind of personal information, hang up the phone. If somebody from Medicare really does need that information, you can call them directly using information that you already have. It's important not to give out sensitive personal information to somebody who calls you when you weren't expecting it. What should I do if I receive a Medicare bill and the charges seem inaccurate? If you receive a bill from Medicare that has charges that you don't recognize, contact Medicare first to determine where these charges came from and if they are in fact legitimate charges for healthcare that you received. If you have reason to believe that someone else is using your Medicare information without your authorization, then you need to take immediate steps to protect your identity from other kinds of loss. Contact the Vermont Attorney General's office and we can walk you through those steps and give you some information about how to protect yourself from further loss. Where do I report phone calls from people who are seeking my Medicare information? In general, we encourage folks never to provide personal information over the phone, especially when someone has called them and they were expecting that call. You can contact Medicare or any other company or organization asking for your personal information directly with information that you already have to make sure that this is a legitimate request. If you have any concerns at all about calls you're receiving, asking for personal information, contact the Attorney General's office. We can give you information about how to protect your identity and avoid these kinds of calls whenever possible. The Office of the Attorney General recently launched a new scam alert system because so little can be done once the scam has occurred and money has been transferred, the purpose of the scam alert system is to notify people and prevent the harm from happening in the first place. How this system will work is participants can sign up for receiving a scam alert through either email, text, or phone call and once a scam has been launched, the Office of the Attorney General will send out an alert through either text, email, or phone. And sign up for the VT scam alert system at 1-800-649-2424 or by visiting consumer.vermont.gov