Social Security Scam

There is a new and prevalent scam that everyone needs to be aware of imposters pretending to be from the Social Security Administration (SSA) try to get your Social Security number over the phone. This scam is now growing rapidly. 

For comparison, in 2017, there were 3,200 reports of people being victimized, and those people reported losing nearly $210,000. In 2018, that number rose to more than 35,000 people, and they lost over $10 million.

Scammers claim that your Social Security number (SSN) has been suspended because of suspicious activity, or because it's been involved in a crime. Sometimes, the scammer wants you to confirm your SSN to reactivate it. Other times, they say your bank account is about to be seized and offer to assist in fraud prevention (often, that involves putting your money on gift cards and giving them the codes, which is a sure sign of a fraud scheme).

Here's what you need to know:

• Your Social Security number cannot be suspended. You don't have to verify your number to anyone who calls, and your bank accounts are not about to be seized.
  
• SSA will never call to threaten your benefits or tell you to wire money, send cash, or put money on gift cards. Anyone who tells you to do those things is a scammer. Every time.
• The real SSA number is #1-800-772-1213, but scammers are putting that number in the caller ID. If you're worried about what the caller says, hang up and call #1-800-772-1213 to speak to the real SSA. Even if the wait time is long, confirm with the real SSA before responding to one of these calls.
• Never give any part of your Social Security number to anyone who contacts you!
• If you get one of these calls, report it to the FTC  and the Olympia Fields Police Department.