Stranger offers free cleaning, meals, or gift cards — then secretly enrolls you in Medicare hospice
Fraudsters approach Medicare recipients at churches, grocery stores, or door-to-door with free services or cash. They collect your Medicare number and fraudulently enroll you in hospice you don't need — blocking your access to real treatments and billing Medicare in your name.
Also known as: Medicare hospice fraud, fake hospice enrollment scam, hospice gift card Medicare scam, fraudulent hospice sign-up, Medicare benefit theft hospice
Already happened to you? Do this in the next few minutes
- 1 Call your bank or card's fraud line right now. Use the number on the back of your card — not any number from the message or caller. Ask them to stop or reverse the payment and freeze the account.
- 2 If you paid by gift card, wire, or an app (Zelle, Venmo, Cash App): contact that company immediately and report it as fraud. Acting fast sometimes recovers the money.
- 3 Report to the FBI at ic3.gov and the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov. The sooner, the better.
What to do right now
- 1 Call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) to find out if you have been enrolled in hospice without your knowledge
- 2 Contact the Senior Medicare Patrol at 1-855-613-7080 — they can help you get disenrolled from fraudulent hospice services
- 3 Never give your Medicare card number, date of birth, or Social Security number to anyone offering free services door-to-door or at community events
- 4 If a Medicare Explanation of Benefits (EOB) arrives listing hospice or home health services you did not receive, contact 1-800-MEDICARE immediately
- 5 Report to the FTC at https://reportfraud.ftc.gov and the FBI's IC3 at https://www.ic3.gov.
Red flags
- ⚠ A stranger approaches you at church, a grocery store, or your home offering free meals, house cleaning, nutritional shakes, or $200–$300/month cash payments in exchange for signing paperwork
- ⚠ They ask for your Medicare card number, Social Security number, or date of birth to 'set up the free services' — legitimate providers already have this information if you are an existing patient
- ⚠ You receive medical equipment you never requested — wheelchairs, hospital beds, oxygen tanks — delivered to your home after signing forms you may not have fully understood
- ⚠ Your doctor is no longer able to prescribe the treatments or medications you rely on, or Medicare rejects a claim for treatment with 'patient in hospice' as the reason
- ⚠ The people signing you up speak your language (Spanish, Cantonese, Mandarin, Tagalog) and target community gathering places — language-matched outreach is a known tactic in these schemes
Sources
- FBI IC3 PSA260603 — Emerging Hospice Fraud Targeting Medicare Recipients (Jun 2026)
- CalMatters — California's hospice fraud epidemic is locking seniors out of the care they need (Apr 2026)
- CMS — Nationwide crackdown: six-month hospice enrollment moratorium (Apr 2026)
- FTC Consumer Alert — Scammers are committing hospice fraud (Dec 2024)
- Home Health Care News — Feds suspend 447 hospices, 23 home health agencies over $600M Medicare fraud (Apr 2026)