Published: August 13, 2008 10:57 pm         

AARP educates seniors on ID theft, other issues

Information about money management, identity theft, Social Security, financial planning, Medicare and consumer fraud and myriad other financial security and health care materials relative to senior citizens were on display Wednesday at Tamarack Conference Center, all a part of AARP West Virginia’s Divided We Fail initiative.

Identity theft is an area many older citizens experience on a regular basis.

Those attending learn-ed that identity thieves use various methods to get personal information about their victims, including stealing wallets and purses, stealing personal information through e-mails or saying they are a representative from a credible company and claiming there are issues with an account that need to be remedied.

They may take personal information such as credit or debit card numbers by procuring the information from a data storage device. Identity theft can also happen through people stealing mail, stealing trash and stealing personal information from victim’s homes.

There are a number ways a person can determine if he or she is a victim of identity theft. Bills or other financial mail may not be received as expected or the victim may receive credit cards they did not apply for. Receiving calls from debt collectors or companies about merchandise or services the victim did not buy is also another tip-off, according to AARP’s pamphlet “ID Theft: What It’s All About.”

If you believe you have been a victim of identity theft there are steps you need to take immediately, those attending the class learned. These include placing a fraud alert on your credit reports, reviewing your credit reports, closing the accounts that you know or believe have been opened or changed in some way, filing a report with your local police or the police in the city or town where the identity theft took place, and filing a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission.

Another topic of interest to older citizens is Medicare fraud, which can suck up your tax dollars and deplete valuable resources from the system. Only through reducing billing errors and fraud abuse can health care programs remain strong and affordable, according to “Unite and Fight: Medicare Fraud in West Virginia,” a pamphlet available at Wed-nesday’s event.

Steps that need to be taken in order to rectify Medicare fraud are:

- Becoming part of the first line of defense against through a nationwide Medicare Fraud Watch.

- If, after reviewing your Medicare statement, there are discrepancies, call the West Virginia Senior Medicare Patrol Project at 1-800-799-4638. A a trained staff member will ask about the situation and help you get necessary information in order to repair the errors and inconsistencies found in your statement

- Always be alert to fraud, abuse and billing errors by treating your insurance card as if it were a credit card. Never accepting free medical services or equipment in exchange for your Medicare number and be alert to potentially devious people who say they “know how to bill Medicare.”

For more information about Medicare fraud call 1-800-799-4638 or contact the West Virginia Senior Medicare Patrol Project.

— E-mail:

amorici@register-herald.com