ALBANY, N.Y., Sept. 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — The New York StateWide Senior Action Council (StateWide), an organization dedicated to advocacy for the rights of seniors in New York State, today announced its Medicare Fraud of the Month for September: AI Driven Healthcare Scams.

The StateWide Fraud of the Month is a component of the Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP), the definitive resource for New York State’s senior citizens and caregivers to detect, prevent, and report healthcare fraud, errors, and abuse. StateWide is New York’s grantee/administrator for this Federal Program.

“Artificial Intelligence (AI) is when machines are designed to mimic human intelligence. This means they can think, learn, and do tasks like recognizing speech, making decisions, and understanding language. AI can be used both to fight against and to commit Medicare and Healthcare fraud,” explained Maria Alvarez, Executive Director of StateWide.

Here are some examples of how AI can be misused for fraud:

• Fake Claims Generation:
  • Fraudsters can use AI to generate realistic-looking fake medical claims that are harder to detect.
• Identity Theft:
  • AI can help fraudsters steal identities by creating realistic patient data or generating convincing fake identities to submit fraudulent claims.
• Deepfake Technology:
  • AI can create convincing fake audio or video recordings of doctors or patients, which can be used to support false claims or prescription.

StateWide offers the following tips on how to stay safe from AI scammers:

• Verify the Source of the Information:
  • Whether it’s a deepfake or a voice cloning scam, call back using a trusted number to confirm the caller’s legitimacy.
• Be Careful What You Post:
  • Scammers often use data from social media to target vulnerable individuals or to train models to imitate your voice.
  • Limit the personal information you share online.
• Exercise Caution:
  • Be extremely careful when providing financial information or personal data online or over the phone.
  • AI is making scams increasingly convincing, so staying vigilant is crucial for your safety.

The NYS SMP and our trained counselors help educate Medicare beneficiaries in the fight against health care fraud. To report Medicare fraud, errors or abuse you can call our NYS Medicare Fraud Helpline at 800-333-4374 or visit www.nysenior.org.

The NYS SMP and its trained counselors and volunteers help educate Medicare beneficiaries in the fight against health care fraud. It also provides information and educational presentations.

It is estimated that Medicare fraud costs taxpayers over $60 billion dollars nationally per year. To help combat this illicit industry StateWide announced its Fraud of the Month program in 2022 to highlight these scams being perpetrated on the State’s seniors.

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SOURCE New York StateWide Senior Action Council, Inc.