Health and Human Services Fraud Awareness Campaign

September 16, 2021 - Recent COVID-19 pandemic-related fraud at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) spurred the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Inspector General (HHS OIG) to educate the public about emerging schemes.  Scammers exploited public concern to send phone calls and texts to beneficiaries regarding free COVID-19 tests, cures, relief kits, vaccination appointments, fake vaccination cards and HHS COVID-19 grants to entice beneficiaries to provide personal identifiable information (PII) such as social security numbers.   

This PII data was then used for identity theft, and as a result the CMS receives approximately 800 identity theft related calls every month. In fiscal year 2020, OIG closed 107 cases that involved an allegation of identity theft. These cases resulted in 75 indictments, 91 criminal actions, 8 civil actions and more than $52 million in HHS monetary receivables.