Social Security Scam Call: How It Works
There is a new SSA scam going around nationwide. Watch out for a Social Security scam call, perpetrated by criminals claiming to be from the Office of the Inspector General (OIG SSA), mostly using the “Social Security Number Suspended” scare. We’ll show you below what the scammers say precisely on the phone to protect yourself if you receive the call.
However, rest assured that these crooks are not from the Social Security Administration. Let’s dive into the SSA Call scam with its variations and expose how they work. You can report the fraudsters at the end of the article if you experienced any suspicious activity.
Scammers call from random numbers but use Caller ID Spoofing technology that we assume you are aware of. They make the name of the Security Security Administration appear on your smartphone display. As people believe the call is from SSA, they pick up and respond with honest intent.
How Does The Fake SSA Message Sound
Let’s say you respond. An automated system states a message along these lines:
“Hello, this call is from the Social Security Administration. The reason we called today is to let you know that we’ve got your Social Security Number suspended due to suspicious activity on your account during the last few weeks. If you want to challenge your case, press 1”.
The same type of fraud happens in Canada as well – known as the Social Insurance Number Call – but let’s continue seeing how it works in the U.S.
Scared by the suspension of their SSN while believing the phone is legitimate, many victims press the key 1. If you do, you are connected to a real person who – of course – asks for all your personal information to prove your identity. The more you give away, the worse the situation can get. This info will be used for identity theft.
Other Variation of the Social Security Scam
In a different variation of the SSA scam, once you answer the phone, the criminal tells his potential victims that their Social Security benefits are suspended or investigated for fraud.
Similar to the situation above, the scammers proceed to ask private data and financial details, sometimes using information publicly available.
Essentially, they call targeted people after finding their info online and doing a little bit of homework. Many fall for this fraud because they share a lot on their social media platforms, which is never recommended.
Social Security Number Suspended: How To Avoid
Besides this type of fraud, beware of many other Social Security scams out there, such as the Social Security Benefits Status, Social Security Administration Visit, and the Social Security Payments Delayed.
Watch the video below to see the Top 4 Social Security scams:
SSA does not call people just like that. The administration operates out of its principal office and via snail mail. If you receive a call like this, report it using the link below.
Here are some other tips directly from the SSA:
Social Security Call: How To Report a Scammer
Make your family and friends aware of the Social Security Scam Call by sharing it on social media using the buttons provided. You can also officially report the scammers and any other suspicious SSA-related activity to the Federal Trade Commission using the link below:
If you want to be the first to find out the most notorious scams every week, feel free to subscribe to the Scam Detector newsletter here. You’ll receive periodic emails, and we promise not to spam. Last but not least, use the Comments section below to expose other scammers.
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ihave a foolproof way to avoid social security fraud…tell the caller you are involved doing a craft and your covered with glue, tell them you have the local office number in your phone and will call back because you know any operator at the ssa office can handle whatever the issue is. thank them for alerting you and you will call thenumber you have always called.
i use this tactic, and it usually leaves them with no room to argue with you, i have even gone so far as to say, “this works best for me as i am the named on my account and if i call the local number i will know if thiscall was a fraudulent one. it works very well. good luck to everyone!
Thanks for the advice
I have received 2 from the Camp Lejuene Lawsuits. Stating that I have over $62K owing me.
I have received 4 or 5 from supposedly Walmart. Offering large amounts of money for Gifts, for submitting surveys. I Block the numbers, so they change their telephone numbers. Sick people!!!
I gave the Fake caller without knowing that this was a Scammer the verification of my Social Security number
Noted
New scam , They tell you that your debit or credit card is compromised and being used to make a large purchase in another state, and to verify that the card belongs to you they ask for the phone number that’s on your card so they can contact them to verify the information with your bank . so they say . what they do is have you wait on hold while they tell you that they will call the number and explain the situation, then bring you in with them on the call so you think that you are talking to your card representative and they ask you to verify all your card information so the matter can be cleared up. in reality they have not contacted your bank and you give them all of your information thinking that it’s ok because you were in a conference call with your bank when you wasn’t . that’s what they tried on me but after running them around in circles for a little over 30 minutes and not giving them any useful information they got mad , called me names and a few other things then hung up . So from then on I decided that every time the scammers called I would try and keep them on the phone as long as I could because that cuts their time down on trying to take advantage of someone else ! besides it’s fun seeing just how far you can push them till they finally realize that their the ones being duped and hang up .
I just received a suspicious phone call on my cell number from an unidentified phone number in the Nashville area, where I live (615-474-4389) The call was prerecorded stating suspicious activity was noticed on my account, and asked if I would like more information so they could connect me to someone. At that point I hung-up suspecting a fraudulent call using a spoofed phone number.
I made the same mistake not knowing that this was scam…I am disabled and on Social Security and now I am afraid of what is going to happen to my Retirement Money that I receive.