Washington Parish Sheriff Randy Seal is alerting all senior citizens in the parish about another scam that has already targeted and victimized parish residents.

In this scam, the caller ID shows that the incoming call is from a medical facility or from Medicare. The caller from the alleged medical facility informed the lady who answered that she had been approved for a medical device and then asked for personal information. The lady told the caller she had not applied to receive a medical device and the call was terminated.

The second call to the same lady came from a female who identified herself as “Amy with Medicare.” She asked for personal information and the lady gave her Medicare number. After she hung up, she realized it was a scam and tried to call the number back but got no answer.

As a result of the identity theft scam, the lady has had to contact her bank, the Social Security office and the IRS to notify them that her identity had been stolen and to put fraud alerts on all of her accounts.

“Please don’t allow yourself to be a victim of this or any other scam,” Seal said. “If you have caller ID and don’t recognize the number, don’t answer your phone. If you do answer your phone, do not give any personal information to the person who called. Medicare, Social Security and the IRS do not make personal telephone calls.

“Don’t fall for this scam, which is intended to gain access to your personal identity information and ultimately gain access to your bank account.”