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	Archive through August 12, 2026	25		08/14 05:59pm

I have been getting HUNDREDS of calls over the last 2 weeks for unclaimed Medicare benefits.

I am not on Medicare Part A and B and I am not 65.

I've started answering the spam calls with "Medicare Fraud Department, you're on a recorded line, how can I help you?"

I've got a number of them to swear at me.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Wednesday, August 12, 2026 - 11:44 pm: Edit

The "unclaimed benefits" are part of Advantage Plans (part C) and Advantage stinks.

By Garth L. Getgen (Sgt_G) on Thursday, August 13, 2026 - 10:51 pm: Edit

Ryan, I've been getting those calls for almost three months.

SVC, curious why you think Advantage Plans "stink". Email me the answer if you think this isn't the place to post.


Garth L. Getgen

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Friday, August 14, 2026 - 06:23 am: Edit

The hospital benefits are far worse than supplemental insurance benefits. There are hours of YouTube videos explaining why Part C is a scam designed to make profit for insurance companies on people who would be far better off with (for example) Mutual of Omaha. The trick is that when you hit Medicare age, you have six months to buy supplemental insurance during which you cannot be turned down. After that, people with serious medical conditions (cancer, diabetes) cannot get supplemental insurance and for them Part C advantage plans are better than nothing.

By Garth L. Getgen (Sgt_G) on Friday, August 14, 2026 - 05:59 pm: Edit

Being retired military, I will convert from Tricare Prime to Tricare For Life which mandates I also have Medicare Parts A & B or Medicare Advantage. I will NOT ever need Medicare Part D because Tricare covers the same things.

My wife has Tricare For Life and Medicare Advantage thru a well-known medical insurance carrier. Thus far, we've had no issues. Our cost is the same as Part A/B would be, but with more things covered than Medicare would.


Garth L. Getgen

By Jessica Orsini (Jessica_Orsini) on Friday, August 14, 2026 - 06:58 pm: Edit

And once again, Steve and I are in agreement: Medicare Advantage stinks on ice.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Friday, August 14, 2026 - 08:34 pm: Edit

Petrick has Advantage because he didn't get a supplement before he couldn't. In rare cases when we have the same thing done, I pay nothing and he pays hundreds.

By MarkSHoyle (Bolo) on Saturday, August 15, 2026 - 02:41 am: Edit

Switched to Tri-Care for life in 2025...
Recently came across a program for Veterans
that use the VA and get their medications there....
It's a Government contract, my runs through Humana and has USAA listed on it....
It's an Advantage plan that returns most of your Plan B payment ($165 for me), no premium, it doesn't cover a lot of what other Advantage plans do (minimum Dental for me), VA for my primary care and the VA covers ER visits (better than Tri-Care ever did...

By Jessica Orsini (Jessica_Orsini) on Saturday, August 15, 2026 - 08:33 am: Edit

I just stick to the VA for everything (except dental).

By Jessica Orsini (Jessica_Orsini) on Wednesday, September 09, 2026 - 12:22 pm: Edit

There's a new site, being advertised heavily, called votesafe(dot)org. It puts itself forward as a place to check and make sure that you're registered to vote. Of course, the legitimate site for that is vote(dot)gov.

The first clue that something is fishy here comes when you try to use votesafe(dot)org. While vote(dot)gov does not ask for personal information, votesafe(dot)org demands the following:

* First, middle, and last name
* Date of birth
* Full home address
* E-mail address
* Cell phone number

Further, while it's invisible to the user, the site installs cookies that collect:

* IP address and location (This information is used to derive each user's city, zip code, approximate longitude and latitude, time zone, and Internet provider.)
* Browser, operating system, screen size and language of your device
* What website referred you to votesafe(dot)org
* Every link you click
* Every page you look at
* Your voter registration status
* Your district

Once votesafe has this information, it uses it to hit you with targeted political advertising on Instagram, Facebook, eX-Twitter, YouTube and other sites. It also forwards the information to marketing firms that use your information to try to sell you products.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Sunday, October 04, 2026 - 05:43 pm: Edit

We got a call today saying that our credit card had been hacked and someone in California had charged $43. We disputed the charge over the phone but didn't see it on our online statement (red flag #1). Then he said that "your bank account has also been attacked, and someone bought a $2000 iphone (red flag #2, it's always an expensive smart phone) and did we want to dispute the charge (which did not show on our online statement, red flag #3). He said "get to your computer, I am passing the call to your bank" having never said the name of the bank. The "bank" said "I cannot reject the charge until I verify your account. I am sending you an email with a security code you need to read to me." RED FLAG #999! I yelled "hang up" but Leanna was already doing it.

Scammer will go to your bank with minimal info (some employee somewhere scanned a bunch of checks and sold them to criminals) and try to access it, knowing access will fail. The bank website then tells the scammer "I am sending you a security code, enter it here" and the scammer calls YOU and says HE is the bank and you need to read the code. Then then takes the code and enters your bank account and empties it in 15 seconds.

Anytime anyone claiming to be your bank says you need to read him the code number in an email, HE IS A SCAMMER AND YOU ARE ABOUT TO LOSE EVERY DIME YOU HAVE.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Sunday, October 18, 2026 - 12:53 am: Edit

SCAMMERS GET CRAFTY
Scammers will try anything to keep you on the phone and answering questions. They're building a voice print which they can use for evil purposes.

When you don't recognize the number, you can just ignore it (although sometimes real calls are from numbers you don't recognize), or hit "answer" and a split second later "hang up" which at least ends that ringing, or you can pick it up and NOT SAY ANYTHING. If it's real, they will say "This is..." and you can proceed. A dialing machine will wait a few seconds then say "Can you hear me?" Now, at this point, you are 100.000% talking to a scammer so hang up, or you could answer by saying "I can hear you". If you say "yes" they will splice the tape to prove you ordered a $2000 iphone.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Sunday, October 18, 2026 - 12:56 am: Edit

NEW CELL PHONE SCAM
You buy a new expensive phone and it arrives. Within a few minutes of activating it, the phone rings. You hear them say your name and then say "We shipped you that phone by accident and need you to send it back, let me email you a special label. Get to UPS and send it back and we'll get your real phone on the road with a $100 gift card."

That is NOT your phone company. It's a scammer who hacked a database and flagged a few tens of thousands of numbers to let him know if the number is transferred to a new phone or a new phone is activated.

By Ted Fay (Catwhoeatsphoto) on Sunday, October 18, 2026 - 11:37 am: Edit

ANY SCAM:

DO NOT INTERACT WITH THE SCAMMER. It may give you pleasure to "mess" with them - but see SVC's warning above.

In addition, you give them data. Even in printed interactions (e.g. text) you give them data (word choice, syntax, etc.) That is information and information is power.

If you suspect a scam, do not engage or (if you started for some reason) terminate without explanation. I.e., "click". Delete the message (if applicable), report the communication (if applicable), and simply do not engage.

By Mike Grafton (Mike_Grafton) on Monday, October 19, 2026 - 11:38 am: Edit

There needs to be a way od "*69" reporting spam, robocalls & scams. Then the big phone companies could aggregate the data, ID the bad actors & make things hard for them.

Things like blocking all calls from that exchange. Or charging mass callers 2 cents a call.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Monday, October 19, 2026 - 02:47 pm: Edit

Telephone companies could end roboscam calls in one day if they wanted to. They are making millions from those calls, just charging their normal fees.