Warning issued over fresh wave of scam texts pretending to be from Medicare
Australians have been warned over a fresh wave of scam texts targeting anyone with a Medicare card.
At first glance, the text message appears legitimate.
It claims to be from MyGov and alerts recipients that their Medicare card needs to be renewed by clicking a link.
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Phones around Australia are pinging with this suspicious text. Supplied
"In accordance with active guidelines, your Medicare card should be renewed by April 2026," the text reads.
"Proceed via the link below."
It then asks users to reply with a "Y" and to copy and paste a link into Safari.
The text message purports to be sent from "MyGov Customer Service Centre".
But the first sign that it is a phishing attempt is hidden in the URL.
It is not an authorised government website – once you look closely, that becomes obvious.
Australians have been urged to delete or ignore these texts.
Services Australia said it is aware of scammers pretending to be from Medicare.
There are several other versions of this text, including ones that claim your Medicare service will be suspended or that some Medicare insurance information is missing.
Services Australia confirmed it will never ask anyone to click on a link from a text message or email to update Medicare details.
It will also never ask you to use a link to receive a repayment, to log onto a Medicare account using a QR code or URL or to provide credit card details to pay the government or access a Medicare entitlement.
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The scammer claims to be from MyGov and alerts recipients that their Medicare card needs to be renewed by clicking a link. Justin McManus/The Age
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"If your Medicare card is about to expire, you don't need to do anything," Services Australia said.
"We'll send you a new card about four to eight weeks before it expires."
The federal government's National Anti-Scam Centre also said it is aware of scammers pretending to be from trusted government organisations such as myGov, Service Australia, Centrelink or the Australian Taxation Office.
"These scammers try to get your personal information by sending a link in a text message," a spokesperson said.
"Never click on links in messages; instead, search for the website yourself or use the organisations secure, authenticated app or portal to see if it is real.
"The National Anti-Scam Centre remains concerned about text message scams, and our Scamwatch website has information about warning signs and how to avoid scams via text message."
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