People with Diabetes Are Being Scammed

This happens daily and people part with their hard-earned money and don't understand why they are the victims. What causes this? Is it carelessness? Or, is because they believe there is a cure and their doctors are not telling them about it? When it comes to type 2 diabetes, there is likely a large combination of factors and my last statement is probably a leader. Many people do believe that their doctor is concealing something from them. This makes them very susceptible to being taken advantage of or scammed.

Elizabeth Woolley at About dot com has a different perspective and I agree that her take is very probable. She also points out some common scams, and I know several people that have been approached by the Medicare scam, but knew that Medicare does not do this type of calling. I would suggest reading her article

Her tips for avoiding problems are worth repeating and I quote,

“Protect your social security number, Medicare number, and financial information. Your social security number could be used for identity theft and your Medicare number for someone else to get medical care under your name.

Be wary of providing your email address to a website that is not well known and respected.

Check your Medicare billings and notices. Look for items you did not order and for multiple billings. This is one check you can do! This is also a way to check if your doctor is over billing Medicare.

Send back or refuse delivery of items you did not order. Take note of the date and the sender's name and notify your health care provider and the Office of the Inspector General if you suspect a scam.

If you suspect fraud, go to the Office of Inspector General website to report fraud. You can report online, by phone, fax, TTY, and mail.”

These are good tips and should be printed out and referred to regularly to remind you of what to do.

Scams on the internet are common and some are very convincing. However, please remember that stores in your own or nearby towns may be running scams of their own. They can be more subtle and because you are face to face with the person, they can be very convincing. They will say almost anything to help separate your money from you and into their pockets. They understand the people are looking for the magic pill to help them cure diabetes and they will claim great things for pills they have. They will generally stop short of proclaiming a cure, but if you infer this, they will not correct you. They will use this inference to sell you anything they can.

Please remember that there is not a cure and if they do cross the line and use the word “cure”, then leave the store as soon as you can get out the door.