Anyone shopping for a Medicare plan this fall may find the wrong website sitting at the top of the search results. The Federal Trade Commission warns that scammers and dishonest businesses pay for top placement, and that a click on one of those ads can lead to a plan that is “not health insurance” or to medical identity theft.
The FTC posted the warning on September 28, 2026, as open enrollment season began to pick up.
How do paid ads lead to fake plans?
According to the FTC’s consumer alert, paying for a search ad lets a company appear above the real results. The ads can use web addresses that resemble government sites, along with keywords and official-looking logos, to pass as HealthCare.gov or Medicare.gov.
A person who calls the number in the ad or clicks through can end up talking to a seller who is not Medicare at all. The FTC says the result can be a plan that is not health insurance, or medical identity theft, where someone else uses a person’s identity to get care or bill for it.
How can a shopper tell if the plan site is real?
The FTC’s advice is to skip the ad and type the website name directly into the browser. For Medicare, that means Medicare.gov, or a call to 800-633-4227. For Affordable Care Act marketplace coverage, it means HealthCare.gov, or 800-318-2596.
The agency also tells shoppers to slow down and read the labels. Search results marked “Ad” or “Sponsored” are paid placements, and a real government site ends in .gov. Medicare’s own plan comparison tool is at Medicare.gov/plan-compare, which is the free official route to compare drug and health plans.
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How long does the open enrollment window last?
The Medicare.gov home page says it is open enrollment now, running to December 7. That gives people a little over six weeks from today to compare plans, and it is the stretch when the paid ads are most active.
Anyone who already clicked an ad and gave out a Medicare number, Social Security number or bank details has a fast follow-up. The FTC lists 800-633-4227 for Medicare questions and for reporting Medicare fraud, and that number reaches Medicare itself, not an advertiser.
Is this only about Medicare?
No. The FTC alert covers both Medicare and the Affordable Care Act Marketplace, since scams pick up during open enrollment for each. The alert invited the public to a September 29, 2026 roundtable with representatives from the FTC, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the Senior Medicare Patrol. Anyone helping a parent or neighbor shop for coverage faces the same ads.
Where can shoppers get free help?
The FTC points people to their State Health Insurance Assistance Program, known as SHIP, at shiphelp.org, and to the local Senior Medicare Patrol at smpresource.org. Both give free help with plan choices. For marketplace plans, HealthCare.gov has a Find Local Help option.
Medicare also draws a firm line on sales calls. Its fraud reporting page says: “Medicare will never call you to sell you anything or visit you at your home.” A caller who claims to be Medicare and pushes a plan is not.
Scams can be reported to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and to a state attorney general. Medicare fraud goes to Medicare.gov or 800-633-4227. The open question for shoppers is whether the site they land on is the one they meant to visit, and the FTC’s answer is to start from a typed address, not a search result.
Shopping plans online before December 7?
A look-alike plan site collects the same things a real one does: a name, a birth date, a Medicare number and often a Social Security number. With open enrollment running to December 7, a shopper can lose those details in a single click and not find out until a bill or denial arrives.
The Senior Fraud Defense & First-Hour Recovery Kit includes the free credit-freeze steps, which block new credit from being opened in a person’s name if their details leak. It also has a first-hour recovery plan and a fraud evidence and report log for what to write down and who to call.
Get the Fraud Defense Kit’s first-hour plan for fake Medicare sites →
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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
