Wisconsin Senior Medicare Patrol

The federal government is paying millions to dead people. Crooks have taking over their identities or found ways to continue disability payments after people die. Read about it in this story from the Wisconsin SMP October Fraud Alert Newsletter: According to a report from the Office of Personnel Management’s (OPM) inspector general, Patrick McFarland, the [...]

Crooks have found a way to combine phone and phishing scams to get virus, spyware and malware on your computer. Kim Komando highlighted the problem over the weekend on her show when an unfortunate consumer called in to report that she had been duped. Here’s how it works: Someone claiming to be from a legitimate [...]

Wisconsin Democrat Tammy Baldwin says settlement deals on foreclosure scandals are too small – and won’t help homeowners. This week, she plans to introduce a law in Congress that would force the Obama administration to launch full-scale investigations in the abuse – and ensure proper settlements that will help duped homeowners, The Huffington Post reports. [...]

Authorities are investigating possible drug fraud at a facility for the mentally disabled. A county health employee reported that Friendship Manor in Kewaunee County had asked for reimbursement for a Vicodin prescription, but facility records show that drug never went to the patient, the Green Bay Press-Gazette reports. The paper also says that the several agencies [...]

As the holidays draw near, pitches for much-needed donations will flood your mailbox, e-mail and come through via telephone calls or Facebook ads. But not all of these “charities” are legitimate. Unfortunately, savvy crooks make their own pitches for supposed donations – which only line their pockets – near a season when people want to [...]

Need to change your Medicare plans? Now is the time to do it! Medicare open enrollment ends Dec. 7. If you need to change coverage – or find out if your current coverage changes – be sure to contact your Medicare provider. Not sure what to do? Visit Medicare.gov for details.

Seven people are charged with stealing more than a million dollars from Wisconsin’s Medicaid program, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports. The paper reports that those charged billed Medicaid for equipment never delivered to patients. According to the story: Criminal complaints attached to the released allege all seven submitted applications to Wisconsin Medicaid to become durable medical [...]

Wisconsin owes the federal government more than a billion dollars for borrowed money that paid unemployment benefits. That’s according to a new story from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, which discusses how the state plans to pay that money back: Despite the fragile state of the economy, the state is working on ways to repay the federal [...]

A Minnesota couple and another man are charged with defrauding mortgage lenders in a $5 million, two-state scheme that involved people who couldn’t afford loans. The Star Tribune explains the complicated scheme: The indictment, handed up late Monday, alleges that the Hoffmans, either separately or together, owned and controlled business entities that they used to [...]

Sending your kids – or grandchildren – off to a daycare isn’t easy. Add to the separation anxiety that some experience, parents and grandparents have the added burden of finding a quality facility with a good reputation. The Wisconsin BBB makes it a little less daunting to find just the right facility for your little [...]