very tricky well done medicare scam

Bob Noel

Bob Noel

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Bob Noel
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14 Oct, I received a letter claiming to be from Aetna directing me to scan a QR code to read the annual notice of change. It has all the appearance of actual correspondance from Aetna...... except the url they want the reader to use is aet.na/readmyanoc. I don't know what payload the qr code has... ok, the payload looks to be just that bogus url (aet.na/readmyanoc)

extra points if you know the .na top-level domain without googling it.

just a heads-up for us old folks on medicare.
 
not just a heads up for old folks on medicare, a heads up for EVERYONE. A N Y email you get from someone you think you trust, you still don't click on links in the email (qr codes are a big scan right now). go to the company's website or app and do what you need to do from there. don't. click. on. links. ffs. any email from a company that looks legit (le what?) asking you to do something, go to their website/app and do it. stop clicking on links people, no matter how tempting. sheesh.
 
I don’t know which one, but the .na is a country domain.
Nicaurauga?
Namibia?
Nigeria?

Not:
Netherlands (.nl)
New Zealand (.nz)
 
Similarly, never scan QR codes at parking lots. Crooks paste over the "real" codes then get your CC info when you pay. Adding insult to injury, you then get a ticket for not paying for parking!
 
eman1200 said:
A N Y email you get from someone you think you trust, you still don't click on links in the email (qr codes are a big scan right now).
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I think the OP got the QR code in snail mail rather than email. It's rather impressive that a scammer would be willing to pay the postage.

I wonder, was it stamped? Or bulk? If the latter, you'd think it'd be very traceable.
 
asicer said:
I think the OP got the QR code in snail mail rather than email. It's rather impressive that a scammer would be willing to pay the postage.

I wonder, was it stamped? Or bulk? If the latter, you'd think it'd be very traceable.
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ah right. well, that too lol.
 
Bob Noel said:
extra points if you know the .na top-level domain without googling it.
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It's Nambia. And it's not uncommon for ccTLDs (country code top level domains) to be used this way. Aetna does indeed own the aet.na domain. Not a scam. The URL just redirects to a much longer URL on aetna.com.
 
asicer said:
I think the OP got the QR code in snail mail rather than email. It's rather impressive that a scammer would be willing to pay the postage.

I wonder, was it stamped? Or bulk? If the latter, you'd think it'd be very traceable.
Click to expand...
It would be impressive if a scam. It isn't.
 
Given that I received the plan's annual notice of change a few weeks earlier (on paper), this particular piece of paper mail would be a waste for Aetna to send. (as an added bonus, it was addressed to a Jr, who doesn't exist)

I'm not buying that it was legit.
 
Bob Noel said:
Given that I received the plan's annual notice of change a few weeks earlier (on paper), this particular piece of paper mail would be a waste for Aetna to send. (as an added bonus, it was addressed to a Jr, who doesn't exist)

I'm not buying that it was legit.
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Lol. You're old enough to be on Medicare, but you haven't seen insurance companies send unnecessary mail? Just type aet.na into your browser. You can check the WHOIS first if you like.
 
eman1200 said:
not just a heads up for old folks on medicare, a heads up for EVERYONE. A N Y email you get from someone you think you trust, you still don't click on links in the email (qr codes are a big scan right now). go to the company's website or app and do what you need to do from there. don't. click. on. links. ffs. any email from a company that looks legit (le what?) asking you to do something, go to their website/app and do it. stop clicking on links people, no matter how tempting. sheesh.
Click to expand...
one of the F.U.s I got from AOPA was regarding the links in their emails.
 
lol indeed

I don’t need to type anything into a browser - I already have the anoc and don’t have any desire to experiment. You can if you want, I subscribe to the when-in-doubt-don’t approach to security
 
Bob Noel said:
14 Oct, I received a letter claiming to be from Aetna directing me to scan a QR code to read the annual notice of change. It has all the appearance of actual correspondance from Aetna...... except the url they want the reader to use is aet.na/readmyanoc. I don't know what payload the qr code has... ok, the payload looks to be just that bogus url (aet.na/readmyanoc)

extra points if you know the .na top-level domain without googling it.

just a heads-up for us old folks on medicare.
Click to expand...
.na. right around the corner from the Prince's in Nigeria.
 
I recently received a phone call that came up as being from my bank ... they did not leave a voice mail. I deleted it. A week later I get another one from the same number but it's not a number that ever was or is used by my bank. I called my bank to tell them what was going on and they reiterated that they will only call from one particular number. Even then I go to the website and check all accounts before returning a call. Be diligent as there are some really trashy folks out there ...
 
In my experience, ignoring a piece of snail mail from your insurance company is safe. They’ll send more. Lots more, nonstop, forever. BCBS sends two identical copies of every single piece of correspondence. Same time, every detail exactly the same. Earlier this week we got six envelopes from them on the same day. My compost bin thanks them, shredded paper works great.
 
DaleB said:
In my experience, ignoring a piece of snail mail from your insurance company is safe. They’ll send more. Lots more, nonstop, forever. BCBS sends two identical copies of every single piece of correspondence. Same time, every detail exactly the same. Earlier this week we got six envelopes from them on the same day. My compost bin thanks them, shredded paper works great.
Click to expand...

That's why I like Mondays. I roll the large green can to the street and check the mail. Most of it ends up in the large green can ...
 
Daleandee said:
That's why I like Mondays. I roll the large green can to the street and check the mail. Most of it ends up in the large green can ...
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Yeah, Tuesday here. Very efficient to have the big recycle bin next to the mailbox.
 
I was parked in front of a restaurant in a nearby resort town a couple of weeks ago, and came out to find a plastic gift card on my window. $500, no less. Looked as legit as any other credit-card sized gift cards, but for three details: it didn't actually say what company the gift card was for, it expired if not redeemed in three days, and it had a QR code one had to scan in order to redeem the $500 card.

I spent some time thinking about leaving it on the car of someone I don't like, but since I actually get along with everyone out here, I just cut it up.
 
DaleB said:
In my experience, ignoring a piece of snail mail from your insurance company is safe. They’ll send more. Lots more, nonstop, forever. BCBS sends two identical copies of every single piece of correspondence. Same time, every detail exactly the same. Earlier this week we got six envelopes from them on the same day. My compost bin thanks them, shredded paper works great.
Click to expand...
I got 6 from Humana on one day this week too.
 
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