Social Security Scams Abound. Watch Out for This One.

Motley Fool ^ | 03/30/2019 | Rita Williams

[BenLurkin]

But a new wrinkle in this venerable scam was recently reported. In this one, recipients of a call are told that their Social Security number has been suspended due not to their own actions but to more general "suspicious activity."

Instead of being given another number to call, the victims are told to simply press 1, and they'll be connected with a Social Security agent. Instead, they are connected to a fraudulent agent, who may ask them to verify their Social Security number. Once they verify it, the fraudster has it. Fines and bank account numbers are part of this one, too.

Unfortunately, Social Security fraud is all too frequently perpetrated against senior citizens. Most senior citizens rely on Social Security for at least part of their income, and many rely on it for a sizable percentage of it. They may be very frightened of a possible suspension of the number and hence the benefit.

Senior citizens also often don't realize how easy it is to imitate even an agency of the U.S. government. In the past, scam artists have set up phone numbers with 202 area codes (the one used in Washington, D.C.) and email accounts with ssa.gov as part of the address -- which is part of the actual online address of the SSA. They have set up fake SSA websites that look very convincing.

This time of year, there may be a third wrinkle. Tax returns, refunds, and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), another federal agency, are in the minds, computers, and mailboxes of many people. Senior citizens and the rest of the population might be more likely to believe that someone from the U.S. government is actually contacting them about suspicious activity during this period than any other.

[trisham]

I don’t answer my phone if I don’t recognize the caller,

[sparklite2]

But you still have to go to the phone to read the ID.
The call blocker I use will never run out of ‘black listing’ memory and my phone never even rings from robocalls. My house is rid of unwanted calls, has been for three years.

[maxwellsmart_agent]

I got one of these calls the other day. If they knew to call me and tell me that a warrant had been sworn out in my name for social security misuse, they would have known my social security number. I didn’t pay any attention to the press 1 message. Just hang up!

[Valk Rider]

“The Angriest Scammer I’ve Ever Called”

I’ve listened to several of these scammer calls over the last few years. Some were pretty funny. This one is the funniest I’ve ever listened to. The guy stringing along this scammer is the best I’ve ever heard. If you have a few minutes to waste give this a listen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuayDyJ1ODI

[ken in texas]

re. ... the security questions included no answers that were correct.

That happened to me also. However, in my case they got some info about my daughter mixed in with mine.

[El Laton Caliente]

In the David Ringo “Council Wars” SciFi book series somebody built an AI patterned after the cartoon character Bun-Bun. A knee high very dangerous rabbit that carries switch blades. Part of his programming is to eliminate ALL telemarketers. In the book the AI laments that there are none left to kill...