The Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department has issued the following press release:
The Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department Consumer Protection Division has recently received complaints regarding an apparent “Medicare/Identity Theft scam†occurring by phone.
The complaints are similar in nature in that the potential victim receives a phone call from phone number 866-234-2255. The caller claims to be from Medicare and attempts to solicit personal information including Social Security numbers and checking account numbers. The calls appear to be targeting senior citizens at this time. The phone number is not associated with Medicare.
To avoid becoming a victim of identity theft, don’t give out personal information on the phone, through the mail or over the internet unless you know who you are dealing with. Avoid disclosing personal financial information when using public wireless connections.
Never click on links sent in unsolicited emails. Use firewalls, anti-spyware and anti-virus software to protect your home computer; keep the software up-to-date. If you use Peer-to-Peer file sharing, check the settings to make sure you are not sharing any sensitive private files with other uses.
Identity Theft is so rampant these days because it is quite easy to harvest information from someone else..`”