IG Warns Public About Fraudulent Phone Calls Threatening Arrest or Legal Action
Reading Time: 2 MinutesLast Updated: December 7, 2018
The Acting Inspector General of Social Security, Gale Stallworth Stone, is urging citizens to remain vigilant of telephone impersonation schemes that exploit the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) reputation and authority.
The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) continues to receive reports from across the country about fraudulent phone calls from people claiming to be from SSA. Recent reports have indicated that unknown callers are using increasingly threatening language in these calls. 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. This is a scam; citizens should not engage with these calls or provide any personal information.
SSA employees do contact citizens, generally those who have ongoing business with SSA, by telephone for customer-service purposes. However, SSA employees will never threaten you for information; they will not state that you face potential arrest or other legal action if you fail to provide information. In those cases, the call is fraudulent, and you should just hang up.
“Unfortunately, scammers will try anything to mislead and harm innocent people, including scaring them into thinking that something is wrong with their Social Security account and they might be arrested,” Stone said. “I encourage everyone to remain watchful of these schemes and to alert family members and friends of their prevalence. We will continue to track these scams and warn citizens, so that they can stay several steps ahead of these thieves.”
The OIG recently warned that some of these impersonation calls have “spoofed” SSA’s national customer service phone number, displaying 1-800-772-1213 as the incoming number on caller ID.
The Acting Inspector General urges citizens to be extremely cautious, and to avoid providing information such as your SSN or bank account numbers to unknown persons over the phone or internet unless you are certain of who is receiving it. If you receive a suspicious call from someone alleging to be from SSA, you should report that information to the OIG at 1-800-269-0271 or online at https://oig.ssa.gov/report.
For more information, please visit https://oig.ssa.gov/newsroom/scam-awareness. For media inquiries, please contact Andrew Cannarsa, OIG’s Communications Director, at (410) 965-2671.
Did you find this Information helpful?
About the Author
Andrew Cannarsa, OIG Communications Director
Andrew Cannarsa, OIG Communications Director
Comments
Comments are closed.
Brian
Received a scam call from an office claiming to be as said to call back this no
977-994-6658 .. said call before legal proceedings are initiated.. said this was the fraud dept of social security
Loretta J.
Received an email from SS stating my SSN was compromised and was told to call 800-772-1356. They verified my home address and once I heard the Asian accent I said this a scam and they hung up.
Patricia
I received a robocall on January 31st stating that my SS# had been suspended. The callback was 425-939-2258. I did not call them nor should anyone else except the people tracking them down. They should be put into jail along with whatever fines are on the books.
Tonya B.
5 robocalls with SSA prefx and extensions since 1/29/19.
Aida K.
January 31st, 2019
This morning I got a message on my answering machine from those scammers. A female voice said that my SSN was in risk , that I was going to get arrested and that I must call the headquarters of the Social Security Administration as soon as I finished listening to the recorded message to this phone number : 817-7749001. So please beware .
Rayson N.
“Used to suspend your Social Security number of an immediate basis as we have received suspicious trails of information in your name the moment you receive this message I need you to get back to me on my department division number that is 240-900-0992 I repeat 240900099 to verify the last four digits of your Social Security number when you call to better assist you with this issue if I don’t hear a call from you we will have to issue an arrest warrant under your name and get you arrested so get back to me as soon as possible thank you…” ( This is the message left on my phone)
MS. R.
I RECEIVED A CALL FROM 2028712460 REGARDING HAVING MY SS ANNUITY GARNISHED. I CALLED THE NUMBER BACK AND IMMEDIATELY COULD TELL THAT IT WAS FRAUDULENT BASED ON THE BACKGROUND NOISE AND THE FOREIGN ACCENT OF THE OPERATOR. REPORTING THIS THRU THE SS ADMINISTRATION IS VERY CUMBERSOME,, SO PUBIC PLEASE BEWARE.
Christian
just received a call claiming to be social security and said legal action will be take for fraud..i liv in anchorage alaska.recorded message left.
A.Lawlor
Thank you for this helpful information. I am being harassed by these calls the last 24 hours, 5 to date and all different phone numbers. When I Googled the number it came up as Stockton Social Security, but when I tried just Stockton SS a different number came up. Totally useless trying to report this on the phone number you gave, the automated voice tells you to call the same number again to report!! They only want on line reports and a lot of worried seniors don’t have computers. Are the SS serious about resolving this, very simple to find the offenders and sue them big bucks.
David G.
Just received 2 calls within the last 30 minutes regarding Legal Action concerning my SSA. Two different numbers, Recorded message suggesting I return the call. Then numbers I received the call from and what the messages told me to call back were the same.
The numbers were: 413-624-6448 and 219-224-2407.