Every day, crooks are trying to steal money by pretending to be from the Social Security Administration.
They basically scare retirees through phone calls, texts and emails into handing over their financial information. Thieves either sell this data or use it to open up fake credit accounts.
What’s the best red flag that signals a scam? If someone is claiming to be from the Social Security Administration and claims to be a government official looking into your benefits, that’s the best tip-off.
“Social Security will never tell you that your Social Security number is suspended, contact you to demand an immediate payment, threaten you with arrest, ask for your credit or debit card numbers over the phone, ask for gift cards or cash, or promise a Social Security benefit approval or increase in exchange for information or money,” the Social Security Administration states.
Here are some other techniques used to scam people:
- The caller identification may be spoofed to appear as a legitimate government number. They may text or email fake documents in attempts to coerce people to comply with their demands. Another common tactic is citing “badge numbers.”
- Criminals are sophisticated and there are many variations of this fraud scheme. For example, scammers may call or email saying they are from Social Security and that the person’s Social Security number is “suspended or was used in a crime.”
- In the latest development involving Social Security-related scams, criminals are using fraudulent Social Security letterhead to target individuals for money or personal information.
Use your sniff test to shut down a scam. If it sounds or smells bad, ignore it.
