HARRISBURG, Pa. (Legal Newsline) - Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane issued a consumer alert Tuesday about a purported scam related to the Affordable Care Act.
In the last several days, people throughout the U.S. received calls requesting personal information to obtain a national medical card from the federal government. The national medical card does not exist.
"Do not ever give out personal, health care or bank account information over the phone, unless you initiated the call and you know who is on the other end," Kane said.
According to the Federal Trade Commission, the scammer calls an individual to confirm personal information such as name, address, phone number and bank account number to distribute the national medical card. Government organizations and other legitimate organizations have the information they need and will never call to ask for it.
Scams similar to the national medical card scam tend to surface whenever there is a major change in government policy or when the topic is newsworthy. The scammers use the uncertainty people have about the policy change to get the victims to reveal personal information. They can then use the personal information for identity theft for credit card theft or taking loans out in the victims' names.
Pa. AG issues warning about Affordable Care Act scam
