Unsolicited covid tests used to scam Arkansas Medicare beneficiaries

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KAIT) - Arkansans on Medicare may need to be on the lookout for unsolicited covid tests arriving at their doorstep.

According to our content partner, KATV, these unsolicited scams are targeting Medicare users by sending them at-home covid tests in the mail that were never ordered.

Carrie Warren, the caregiver of a friend’s mother who was a Medicare recipient, had been receiving these packages at her doorstep.

“Covid test strips started getting sent to her in the mail and I thought well that was really strange because nobody ordered them,” said Warren. “I knew she hadn’t ordered them but I knew she was getting a lot of spam calls.”

After receiving several covid tests per week, Warren decided to check her Medicare summary and noticed charges for the tests, ranging anywhere from $80 to $200 per shipment.

Kathleen Pursell, director of Senior Medicare Patrol, part of the Arkansas Insurance Department, said Warren is not the only one experiencing these scams.

“You know, they never ordered those test kits or they never received them,” said Pursell. She said Medicare loses $60 to $90 billion to scams a year and those are tax dollars being wasted.

“It is our money being wasted. It is every beneficiary’s money that is being wasted on fraud, waste, and abuse.”

Pursell said the faster you can catch the charges on your Medicare summary, the easier it will be to get that money back.

You can read more about this story by visiting KATV-TV’s website.

For reporting this scam or any other Medicare scam, contact Senior Medicare Patrol at 501-534-4070 or the helpline at 866-726-2916.