The scammers are at it again. As Press staff writer Becky Campbell reported in Sunday’s paper, con artists pretending to be from the federal government are calling older Americans trolling for vital personal information.

A local woman who received one of the bogus calls said the person on the other end of the line wanted information about her bank. “She said ‘I’m sending you a new Medicare card.’ ” Geneva Marcus said. “I asked why and she didn’t answer.”

Marcus was suspicious and refused to give the caller any personal information. Instead, she hung up on the scam artist. That was the right thing to do.

Too many Americans fall victim to scams that rob them of their private financial information and personal identification. Never give out such information over the phone or Internet unless you have initiated the contact.

Government agencies do not communicate about personal information via email, or ask for passwords, personal identification numbers or other private information about financial accounts unless you contact them.