Social Security Inspector General Warns Citizens About Fraudulent Phone Calls

Social Security’s Inspector General Warns Citizens About Fraudulent Phone Calls.

The Inspector General for Social Security warns citizens to be on alert for fraudulent phone calls from people impersonating the Social Security Administration (SSA.)

These calls are fraudulent, threatening and are exploiting the SSA’s reputation and authority.

Scammers are trying to trick individuals into giving them their personal information and money.

The Office of the Inspector General continues to receive reports from around the country. The callers’ state, due to improper or illegal activity with a citizen’s Social Security number (SSN) or account, a citizen will be arrested or face other legal action if they fail to call a provided phone number to address the issue. They also request money or demand you pay off a social security debt. These calls may even look like a government phone number on your caller ID.

This is a scam; citizens should not engage with these calls or provide any personal information. Citizens should hang up immediately and not give out any personal information.

SSA employees do contact citizens, generally those who have ongoing business with the SSA, by telephone for customer-service purposes. However, SSA employees will never threaten you for information and they will not state that you face potential arrest or other legal action if you fail to provide information.  They will not ask you for money either. In those cases, the call is fraudulent, and you should just hang up.

It is important that these calls stop. The SSA is working diligently to end this fraudulent behavior. You can help the SSA by reporting these calls at oig.ssa.gov to Social Security’s law enforcement team at the Office of the Inspector General.

If you have questions about a call you received, it is best to not give out any information, hang up and to call the SSA or your attorney directly to handle your questions.

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