With Memorial Day in the rearview mirror, the summer season is here and for the second year in a row, sticker shock – especially with rental cars – is greeting summer travelers. Reduction in fleet sizes during the pandemic and supply chain issues have once again created a situation where rental care demand is high, supply is tight, and prices are high.

Criminals are paying attention and posting fake rental car deals at rock bottom prices online. While everyone loves a good deal, doing business with an entity you aren’t familiar with could be risky. Whatever your travel needs, stick to reputable websites with proven track records. Note – some scammers create fake websites that look like the real sites of well-known rental car companies, so make sure to look closely at the web address. If you do find a deal with an unfamiliar provider, do your research: look up the company name with “scam” or “complaint” and see what appears, and check out reviews.

Medicare fraud continues to ravage the program to the tune of billions of dollars a year.  And while the cost to the program increases costs for beneficiaries in the form of higher premiums, much more is at stake.  Your healthcare history can be affected if someone steals your number and uses it to get treatment that ends up in your file. Also, receiving “Medicare-covered” equipment or tests unknowingly from a scammer can make you ineligible for those services down the road.

The two most important things you can do to help fight Medicare fraud is to never give your Medicare number out to anyone but your trusted health care providers and always review your Medicare statement carefully and report any unauthorized charges. 

Report these and other scams to local law enforcement. For help from AARP, call 1-877-908-3360 or visit the AARP Fraud Watch Network at www.aarp.org/fraudwatchnetwork.

Be a fraud fighter!  If you can spot a scam, you can stop a scam.