Senior citizens should beware of a new scam call involving Medicare cards.

An 83-year-old Center Township man who does not want to be named said he received a call late last week from a person with a foreign accent who said Medicare is replacing all cardboard cards for clients with a plastic version.

The man said the caller claimed Medicare is trying to prevent seniors from damaging their cardboard cards in the laundry.

The caller asked for the man's Medicare number, so he could process the new card.

“If they're from Medicare, shouldn't they already have my number?” the man said. “I hung up.”

He then called a Medicare representative asking if cardboard cards were being replaced, and was told it is a scam and cards are not being replaced.

The Medicare representative advised him to call the Federal Trade Commission, but he could not get through to the agency by phone, he said.

The man said as a Type 2 diabetic, he is interested in a device that patients can place on their skin to read their blood sugar count. However, he knows the devices are ordered only for diabetics who take insulin, which he does not.Two or three months ago, he received a call from a person who said his company was giving the devices away free, regardless of whether the patient uses insulin.The caller asked the man for personal information and even gave the name and number of a legitimate medical supply company in North Carolina, where the recipient could call and get their device.Without giving the caller any information, the man called the North Carolina company.“They said they don't give out free glucose monitors,” the man said. “They said they were getting a lot of calls because scammers use legitimate companies to get information from people.”

Mike Slupe, Butler County sheriff, said no one should provide any numbers or information on a call they did not initiate.Other warning signs, Slupe said, are callers who ask for payment by gift card, ask for a payment to receive a large sum of money or prize in return, or calls with offers that seem to good to be true.“Just hang up,” Slupe said. “Do not engage in conversation.”He said he has seen younger residents also get fleeced by the increasingly slick scam industry.“It will be never-ending,” Slupe said.Slupe said law enforcement has difficulty catching and prosecuting scammers because many are from outside the United States, use spoofed contact information and a host of other reasons.He advised all county residents to simply discontinue calls from people making offers or asking for information or money.