The numbers worth keeping by the phone
Every scam on this site works the same way: someone contacts you, and you deal with them instead of hanging up and calling the real number. This is the real numbers. Print it and put it in a drawer.
Medicare
Medicare
Coverage questions, claims, replacement cards, plan changes, reporting fraud.
Won't recommend a specific plan or sell you anything.
TTY 1-877-486-2048
SHIP — your state's Medicare counsellors
Free, trained, one-to-one help comparing plans. They earn nothing whichever you pick.
Find your state's number at shiphelp.org.
Senior Medicare Patrol
Help when you suspect Medicare billing fraud or errors on a statement.
Find your state's programme at smpresource.org.
Social Security
Social Security Administration
Benefits, survivor claims, earnings record corrections, appointments.
Waits can be long. The website handles most of this faster — see our guide to the new login.
Fraud and scams
National Elder Fraud Hotline
Staffed by people trained to help older adults who have been targeted or defrauded. They help you report it to the right places.
Run by the Justice Department's Office for Victims of Crime.
10am–6pm ET, weekdays
FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center
Report online fraud, wire transfers, crypto, gold couriers. Speed matters — fast reports are how money sometimes gets recovered.
Online only; there is no phone line.
Federal Trade Commission
Report any scam, whether or not you lost money. Reports are what get networks shut down.
Report at reportfraud.ftc.gov.
Your bank
The number on the back of your card. Not a number anyone gave you on a call.
Write yours here: ______________________
Local help
Eldercare Locator
The front door to everything local: transport, meals, home care, caregiver support, benefits screening, Adult Protective Services.
Connects you to your Area Agency on Aging — the most under-used resource in this whole subject.
Benefits screening
Checks what you may qualify for — Medicare Savings Programs, food, energy, property tax relief — in one pass.
Travel
TSA Cares
Arranges a specialist to help you through airport screening. Call at least 72 hours ahead.
Separate from airline wheelchair assistance, which you book with the airline — both are free.
If things are bad
988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
Call or text 988. Free, confidential, 24 hours.
For you or for someone you're worried about.
The whole point of this page. If someone contacts you claiming to be any of these organisations, hang up and call the number here instead. Not the number they gave you, and not by pressing 1. That single habit defeats nearly every scam we've written about — see the five-minute rule.
Numbers were checked in August 2026. Government phone lines change rarely, but if one of these is wrong, tell us and we'll fix it the same week.