The Public Has a New Way to Report Social Security Imposter Scams
Jan 20, 2020
Tampa, FL (Law Firm Newswire) January 20, 2019 – The Social Security Administrative (SSA) and SSA’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) announced the launch of a dedicated online reporting form to report Social Security imposter scams.
The agencies are to analyze the data collected for trends and common elements to help identify scammers. The goals are to disrupt the scammers, reduce this type of fraud and cut down on the number of people falling victim to the scams.
Social Security scams soared over the past year, becoming the number one type of fraud reported to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the SSA. The most common scam occurs over the phone. The caller says a person’s Social Security number has been suspended because of suspicious activity. The caller may request payment to prevent the suspension. The caller may threaten an arrest if money is not sent.
Another common scam happens through a link sent in an email or text. The link may direct a Social Security recipient to another site.
An SSA employee may contact a Social Security applicant or recipient by phone or mail for a business purpose, but there are things an SSA employee does not do. The SSA employee never threatens someone or promises a Social Security benefit approval or increase in return for information or money. An SSA employee does not say that a Social Security number has been suspended, does not demand immediate payment, does not ask for a credit or debit card number over the phone, and does not require a specific means of repayment.
The best ways to avoid scams are not to answer calls if the phone number is not known, never divulge personal or financial information, never give out a Social Security number as a means of identification, and monitor bank accounts and credit scores.
Social Security recipients should report robocalls, live calls, emails, texts and in-person scams using the dedicated online number. The form allows the person reporting a scam to create a Personal Identification Number (PIN). If the OIG contacts the person, the person will have the PIN to make sure the call is legitimate.
Learn more at http://www.floridasocialsecurity.com/
David W. Magann, P.A.
Main Office:
156 W. Robertson St.
Brandon, FL 33511
Call: (813) 657-9175
Tampa Office:
4012 Gunn Highway #165
Tampa, Florida 33618
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