Marketplace Enrollment Scams: Fake HealthCare.gov Sites

By Muhammad Imran · Reviewed for accuracy against FTC and HealthCare.gov guidance · Last updated October 31, 2026.

You are shopping for health insurance for next year. You type "health insurance" into Google, and the first result looks exactly right. Official colors, the word Marketplace in the address, a phone number, and a button that says compare plans. You click. Nothing about that moment feels like a scam. That is why this scam works.

On November 1, 2026, Marketplace open enrollment opens for 2027 coverage, and it runs through January 15, 2027. Enroll by December 15 for coverage that starts January 1. Millions of people start with a search, and the FTC warned on September 28, 2026 that scammers and dishonest businesses sometimes pay to appear at the top of search results, using official-looking logos and addresses that look like HealthCare.gov. Three days before enrollment opened, on October 29, 2026, the FTC sent warning letters to 25 companies that market health plans or sell leads for them. This guide shows how the trap works, the versions going around right now, and the 10-second check that stops it.

The paid-ad trap, click by click

1. The search. You search for health insurance, compare plans, or a phone number for the Marketplace. Scammers bid on exactly these words, because they know that is where the season starts.
2. The ad. The top results carry a small "Ad" or "Sponsored" label. The label is easy to miss, and the result itself looks official. Position at the top is bought, not earned. It says nothing about trustworthiness.
3. The look-alike landing. Logos, colors, and an address close to the real one. A form asking for your ZIP code, then your name, then your Social Security number. Or a phone number to call for free help comparing plans. Either way, the page is collecting, not helping.
4. The harvest. Your Social Security number and bank details are the prize. With them, a scammer can steal your identity, open accounts, or sell your information on. If you pay, the money goes to a plan that pays nothing when you need care, or to nothing at all.
5. The silence, or the second call. Either nothing arrives, or the calls start: a free subsidy you have not claimed, a $500 check that needs releasing, a better plan. Each one is another try at the same information, dressed as a new offer.

Notice what never happens in those five steps. At no point does anyone show you a real plan document, a real provider network, or a real price you can verify somewhere else. The whole funnel is designed to get your information before you can check anything.

The "free subsidy" call

The call usually starts with good news. You qualify for a free health plan, the caller says, or a subsidy you have not claimed. All you have to do is verify your Social Security number and your bank details so the subsidy can be released. Some versions promise a free gift or cash back for signing up. It sounds like help. It is the pitch the FTC warned about on October 29, 2026: the warning letters name four problems, and one of them is promising free gifts or cash back to get people to sign up. The letters also cover presenting a limited plan as if it were comprehensive health insurance, and misstating what a plan costs.

Here is the rule that settles it. The Marketplace, its trained helpers, and your state will never threaten you or ask for your credit card or a payment to keep or qualify for coverage. You pay premiums directly to your plan. You never pay anyone to enroll, and free help is available through HealthCare.gov's local-help directory, from trained people and organizations. A caller who needs your card or your bank details to "release" a benefit is not the Marketplace.

The $500 check twist

There is a real check in the mail this fall, and scammers are already using it. The Treasury mailed $500 checks to about one million HealthCare.gov enrollees in 30 states starting September 30, 2026, for people who had 2026 Marketplace coverage and received no premium tax credit. Fortune reported the checks, and no application was needed: the Treasury already knew who qualified. Now the calls are starting. A caller offers to release your $500, or speed it up, if you verify your Social Security number or bank details first. That call is the scam. The real payment needs no application, no processing fee, and no verification over the phone, and the FTC's rule covers every version of this: the government will never call, email, text, or message you on social media to ask for money or personal information. If a call mentions the $500 check, hang up.

Medicare or Marketplace? Do not mix them up

The FTC's alert covers both programs, and scammers blur the two on purpose. A site that mixes Medicare language with Marketplace subsidy language deserves a second look. Our fake Medicare websites guide covers the Medicare side of the same trap.

The 10-second check

Do this every time, before you type anything into a health insurance page.

1. Skip every result labeled Ad or Sponsored. Scroll until the labels stop.
2. Read the address. It must be healthcare.gov itself, not HealthCare plus extra words.
3. Or skip the search entirely. Type healthcare.gov into the address bar yourself, or call 1-800-318-2596.
4. Never type your Social Security number or bank details into a site you found through an ad. Only share them with a plan you called yourself, at a number you looked up.

If you already clicked, shared, or paid

Act fast. The sooner the number is flagged, the less damage it can do.

1. Call the Marketplace Call Center at 1-800-318-2596 right away and tell them what happened, including exactly what you shared.
2. Check your account at healthcare.gov, typed by you, for changes you did not make.
3. If you paid, call your bank or card company and ask about disputing the charge. Our clicked or paid guide walks through it.
4. If you shared your Social Security number, place a fraud alert or a credit freeze with the major credit bureaus.
5. Report it. File at ReportFraud.ftc.gov, and tell the Marketplace what happened when you call.

If the ad, call, or letter you got does not match anything on this page, check our Medicare scam hub. It lists every health insurance scam we track, with the same plain-English checks.

Free help comparing real plans

You do not have to compare plans alone, and you do not have to pay anyone to do it. HealthCare.gov's local-help directory connects you with trained helpers in your area, free. Or go straight to the source: healthcare.gov, or 1-800-318-2596. Nobody legitimate will rush you, and nobody legitimate needs your Social Security number or your bank details before showing you a plan. If a site or caller breaks either rule, you are not talking to the Marketplace. And if you are 65 or older, check first whether you are shopping in the wrong place: Medicare open enrollment runs October 15 through December 7 at medicare.gov, and our Medicare scam hub lists every Medicare version of this trap.

Sources: Federal Trade Commission, consumer alert, "What to know ahead of Open Enrollment to avoid health insurance scams" (September 28, 2026); Federal Trade Commission, press release, 'FTC Staff Warn Marketers of Healthcare Plans and Lead Generators Not to Deceive Consumers about the Terms of the Advertised Plans' (October 29, 2026); Federal Trade Commission, consumer alert, 'Seeing lots of ads for health insurance plans during open enrollment? Read this' (October 29, 2026); HealthCare.gov (Marketplace open enrollment dates; Protect yourself from Marketplace fraud); Fortune, October 2026 (Treasury $500 checks to HealthCare.gov enrollees). Last updated October 31, 2026.