Is a request for my Medicare or NHS number over the phone a scam?

Your Medicare number (US) or NHS number (UK) is a valuable identifier used to commit healthcare fraud, file false insurance claims, or combine with other stolen details for identity theft. Scammers impersonate health agencies, insurance companies, or survey organisations and claim they need to update records, issue a new card, or check your coverage. Genuine health authorities update records through the health system when you attend an appointment — they do not call you out of the blue to ask for your number. If an unexpected caller requests your health identifier, hang up and contact the agency directly using a number from their official website.

Health identifiers are durable in a way cards are not — you cannot cancel and reissue your medical identity, so a stolen number can be reused in billing fraud and identity theft for years. The 'free device or screening' variant is worth particular caution: it converts your number into fraudulent claims against the health system, and the equipment, if it arrives at all, is worthless.

Extend the same protection to paperwork: statements and benefit summaries showing services you never received are the visible trace of misuse and worth querying every time. Share your health number only when you initiated the contact — at appointments, through official portals, or on calls you dialled yourself from published numbers.