Fake Medicare flex card / OTC over-the-counter benefit card offer targeting seniors — "you qualify for a free Medicare flex card worth $XXX for groceries, dental, vision, or hearing" harvesting Medicare Beneficiary Identifier (MBI), SSN, and banking details for Medicare fraud + identity theft

Fake Medicare flex card / OTC (Over-the-Counter) benefit card offer targeting Medicare-eligible seniors (65+). Attackers send fake "You have been pre-approved for a Medicare flex card worth $X per month for groceries, dental, vision, and hearing" or "Your unused Medicare OTC allowance expires at month-end — activate your benefit card now" emails, impersonating CMS, Medicare, or Medicare Advantage plan administrators. Flex cards are a real feature of some Medicare Advantage plans, which attackers exploit for surface credibility. Any email offering an unsolicited flex card and requesting Medicare Beneficiary ID (MBI), SSN, date of birth, or banking information for activation is fraudulent — legitimate flex-card enrollment is initiated by the plan at enrollment time, not via inbound email. The signal fires when: (1) body references Medicare, Medicare Advantage, flex card, OTC benefit, or related benefit card brand AND (2) unsolicited benefit offer, free card claim, or eligibility/pre-approval language is present AND (3) sender is NOT from medicare.gov, cms.gov, ssa.gov, or a legitimate Medicare Advantage insurer domain AND (4) no List-Unsubscribe or In-Reply-To. Source: GC1 R15 council #4; FTC Medicare flex card scam consumer alert 2024-2026; FBI IC3 senior fraud report 2023.