Consumer experts say Obamacare will create a huge opportunity con artists to steal money and personal information, CNBC reports.
Scammers have been at it for more than a year now, but consumer advocates and security experts warn that the problem will worsen as we get closer to Oct. 1. That's when the millions of uninsured Americans can use a health insurance exchange, set-up by their state or by the federal government, to shop for coverage.
"I believe the incidents are going to skyrocket as that date approaches," said Eva Velasquez, president and CEO of the nonprofit Identity Theft Resource Center. "And even people who are smart and savvy could get taken, so we are very concerned about the potential for some serious financial harm."
The problems arise from the health insurance market created by Obamacare. Fake exchanges are already up and running on the Internet, according to CNBC.
The CNBC report follows other reports of fraud issues involved with the implementation of Obamacare.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) sent a letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services regarding the possibilities of fraud on Monday. He said Americans should not be forced on to government health exchanges when there is no guarantee their personal and financial data is secure.
"While I believe we ought to repeal this law and replace it with commonsense reforms that lower cost, Americans ought to be assured, at an absolute minimum, that their personal and financial data will be safe from data thieves," McConnell wrote in the letter.