Skip to main content

A Suspended Social Security Number Scam Is Making Its Rounds: How to Identify and Report a Fraudulent Call



#SSN #FTC #SocialSecurity #Scam #Fraud

 ABC11 reported on victims who receive calls from scammers claiming to be from the Social Security Administration. The callers claim that the victims have committed a criminal act and that the government has suspended their Social Security number and filed a lawsuit against them. Victims are instructed to call a specific number, where they will be asked for personal information. They'll also be told that they must pay a fine to end the lawsuit and recover their Social Security numbers.

 In another version of the scam, which has been concentrated in the Monroe County, N.Y., area, victims are told their Social Security number has been suspended due to "suspicious activity" and are asked to press 1 to be connected with a Social Security representative.

 In both scams, the endgame is acquiring personal information from the victim and soliciting payment of some kind to "reactivate" a Social Security number. Scammers have reportedly requested payments via methods ranging from wire transfers to gift cards.



While the suspended Social Security number scam first surfaced last summer, the calls have become prevalent enough in the past month that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a series of tweets about them, and what to do if you receive such a call.

 "Government imposter scams made up nearly half of the 535,417 imposter scam reports to the FTC in 2018. Many government imposter scam reports involved fraudsters who pretended to be from @SocialSecurity. The scammers tell people their Social Security number has been suspended, or that there's some other problem to get them to reveal their SSN or pay to "reactivate" it. In reality, Social Security numbers are NEVER suspended and @SocialSecurity will NEVER require you to pay to obtain one."

 The FTC has offered the following tips to protect yourself against fraudulent callers:

 Never give out or confirm personal information over the phone, via email or on a website until you've checked out whoever is asking you for it.
Do not trust a name, phone number or email address just because it seems to be connected with the government. Con artists use official-sounding names and may fake caller ID or email address information to make you trust them. Besides, the government normally contacts people by postal mail.
Contact government agencies directly, using telephone numbers and website addresses you know are legitimate.
If you receive a scam government call, report it to the FTC.
If you aren't sure if a government communication (call, text, email or letter) is fraudulent, contact your local Social Security office or call Social Security's toll-free customer service number at 1-800-772-1213 to verify its legitimacy. Callers who are deaf or hard of hearing can call Social Security's TTY number at 1-800-325-0778.

 BY Cammy Harrison

 ​
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Daylight saving time begins soon: when do we change the clocks?

#Daylightsavingtime #March8 Since the winter solstice on Dec. 21, 2019, the nights have been getting shorter, and the days are longer. So, when do we change the clocks? Daylight saving time (often erroneously said as daylight savings time) begins Sunday, March 8, 2020. via GIPHY That Sunday, the clocks will spring forward, causing areas that practice daylight saving time to lose an hour (don't worry, the hour is gained back in the fall). When the clock strikes 2 a.m., the time will change to be 3 a.m. via GIPHY Most of the United States practices daylight saving time,  much to the disdain of lawmakers including  Lancaster County Sen. Scott Martin (R-Martic Township). Arizona is the only state that refrains from practicing daylight saving due to the summertime heat. The residents of Arizona prefer their cooler nights as a break from the harsh temperatures,  according to the National Geographic. The amount of sunlight ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Five Simple Ways to Start Communicating More Mindfully

#Communication #HealthyRelationship #Mindfulness  If you've ever practiced mindfulness, you're probably already aware of the many benefits it offers for the willing and dedicated practitioner. When we open ourselves to this practice, we create the potential for our lives to be transformed in ways that might seem subtle but are truly life-altering. Though many of the benefits of mindfulness are personal and internal—improved concentration, expanded sense of awareness, increased patience, and enduring states of tranquility, to name a few—some important aspects of the practice can positively affect our external experience as well. Take communication, for example. Using mindfulness in our communication with others can improve our relationships and help us navigate even the most difficult conversations. If you already have a practice of cultivating mindfulness, a little intention is all you’ll need to start applying it to your communication. If you haven’t yet developed a pra...
Post a Comment
Read more

New Drug for Depression, Derived From Ketamine, Is Approved

#Esketamine #FDA #Ketamine #Depression The FDA has approved esketamine for clinical use in cases of treatment-resistant depression, or depression that fails to respond to more than one antidepressant medication. Esketamine is a molecule derived from the anesthetic ketamine, which has itself gained steam as a novel depression treatment. The approval, which the agency announced on March 5, was widely expected after an advisory panel recommended 14 to 2 in favor in early February. But the decision is significant, the drug’s developers say, because unlike other antidepressants on the market, esketamine works through the brain’s glutamate pathways—making it the first new mechanism of action approved by the FDA to treat depression in 30 years. “This really promises a completely new and different treatment for many patients,” says David Hough, a psychiatrist who led the clinical trials of esketamine for Janssen Pharmaceuticals, the pharmaceutical arm of Johnson and Johnson and the d...
Post a Comment
Read more

9 things about MLK's speech and the March on Washington

 #MLK  #MartinLutherKingJr  #MarchonWashington #IHaveaDream "I have a dream this afternoon that my four little children will not come up in the same young days that I came up within, but they will be judged on the basis of the content of their character, not the color of their skin." The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke these words in 1963, but this was not the speech that would go down as one of the most important addresses in US history. King spoke these words in Detroit, two months before he addressed a crowd of nearly 250,000 with his resounding "I Have a Dream" speech at the March on Washington for Freedom and Jobs on August 28, 1963. Several of King's staff members actually tried to discourage him from using the same "I have a dream" refrain again. As we all know, that didn't happen. But how this pivotal speech was crafted is just one of several interesting facts about what is one of the most important moments in the 2...
Post a Comment
Read more