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.
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Andrew Cannarsa, OIG Communications Director
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Richard F.
Yesterday I received two phone calls from the number 1-800-722-4855. As I did not recognize the number I did not answer either call. In both cases a voicemail was left claiming to be from the Social Security Administration and because of “suspicious” activity my SSN had been suspended and I should press 1 for further details. Of course I didn’t. After the first call I attempted to call the OIG but because I live in the Pacific Time Zone the OIG was already closed. I then contacted an area SSA representative who told me this is a scam that has hit the area and was being investigated. He further stated that as long as I did not give any personal information, I was fine. After the second call I contacted him again and gave him the number calling me in case it would help investigators. He said he would pass it on. He also advised me that the SSA would not contact me by phone, but rather by US mail.
Kathy
Just today 03/16/2019 I rec’ a phone call stating all of the above threats. I didn’t know anything about this so I was so frightened,shaking and crying. I feared someone had done something to cause an error to make this happen or someone had stolen my identity? Per the area code the call was made from a landline in Texas. My hope is that this reply helps even one person not go through the fear and anxiety I am. It’s terrible to let them, the bad people who intend harm to other people, to win. So let’s not let them win. You guys, the important top people, can you help us more and make this information more available so we don’t become their victims.??
V.V.
Hi Kathy, thanks for checking in with us. If the caller is claiming to be from Social Security—it is critical that you pay attention to the tone and content of the message from the caller. In some cases, the caller states that Social Security does not have all of your personal information, such as your Social Security number (SSN), on file. Other callers claim Social Security needs additional information so the agency can increase your benefit payment, or they threaten that Social Security will terminate your benefits if they do not confirm your information. This appears to be a widespread issue, as reports have come from people across the country. These calls are not from Social Security.
If you receive a call from someone claiming to be from Social Security, we urge you to always be cautious and to avoid providing sensitive information such as your SSN or bank account information. Never reveal personal data to a stranger who calls you, and never send the stranger money via wire transfer or gift cards.
Social Security 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 or pay a fee. In those cases, the call is fraudulent, and you should just hang up. If you receive these calls, report the information to the Office of the Inspector General at 1-800-269-0271 or online at oig.ssa.gov/report.
Anya
Have received calls from a 1-800-290-2203 for 1st time today with this threatening message…six times today! I just delete. Any way to stop this?
V.V.
Hi Anya. Thanks for checking in with us. If the caller is claiming to be from Social Security—it is critical that you pay attention to the tone and content of the message from the caller. In some cases, the caller states that Social Security does not have all of your personal information, such as your Social Security number (SSN), on file. Other callers claim Social Security needs additional information so the agency can increase your benefit payment, or they threaten that Social Security will terminate your benefits if they do not confirm your information. This appears to be a widespread issue, as reports have come from people across the country. These calls are not from Social Security.
If you receive a call from someone claiming to be from Social Security, we urge you to always be cautious and to avoid providing sensitive information such as your SSN or bank account information. Never reveal personal data to a stranger who calls you, and never send the stranger money via wire transfer or gift cards.
Social Security 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 or pay a fee. In those cases, the call is fraudulent, and you should just hang up. If you receive these calls, report the information to the Office of the Inspector General at 1-800-269-0271 or online at oig.ssa.gov/report.
Wayne A.
I have received 4 #calls from a 1-866 number , stating that my S.S.I # has been terminated from the system due to fraudulent activity,if I choose to reactivate my account to please press 1 or to call them right back. I tried calling the number back and a recording tells me that the number is not reachable…
J.Y.
Thank you for checking in with us, Wayne. Unfortunately, there are some Social Security impersonation schemes that we are warning citizens about. See our recent blog posts: IG Warns Public About Fraudulent Phone Calls Threatening Arrest or Legal Action and Beware of Scammers Pretending to be Social Security.
If you receive these calls, please report the information to the Office of the Inspector General at 1-800-269-0271 or online. Thanks, again!
Jack
I received a call from 409-241-8096 a few minutes ago. I spoke with two people with heavy accents. It was claimed that my name and SS# was used to rent a car, the car was abandoned in Texas, cocaine was found in the car along with paperwork in my name. I was being prosecuted by the attorney general for drug trafficking, money laundering and other crimes and my social security was suspended by Federal authorities. I became suspicious but I did provide my SS# before the threats became more intense. they claimed to be helping me but I began to realize it was a scam.
Elvira M.
Someone keeps calls me about my social security number and they say I have a warrant for money launderinabd drug trafficking and that I have over eight banks accounts and it is not true.i don’t don’t who this people are but I’m not answering no more of this calls……
Tracy M.
I just received one of this calls from the 1-800-772-1242 number
Alex
I was asked to call back to avoid legal action against my SSI and was given a phone (310) 341-41-03
Maria
I received a call from 1-833-887-7423 saying a federal warrant with my social security number has been issued for me in regards to fraudulent activity. And I need to call the social security deputy office. I’m not understanding this because I’m a disabled senior. Is this a scam, I have not spoken with anyone, this was a message left on my phone, I called the number back it tells you to leave a message. Please help to let me know if this is a scam.
K.O.
Hi Maria, thank you for checking in with us. That call is not from Social Security. Unfortunately there are some Social Security impersonation schemes that we are warning citizens about. See our two recent blog posts:
https://blog.ssa.gov/inspector-general-warns-public-about-oig-impersonation-schemes/
https://blog.ssa.gov/inspector-general-warns-public-about-caller-id-spoofing-scheme-misusing-ssa-customer-service-number/
If you have questions about any communication — email, letter, text or phone call — that claims to be from SSA, please contact your local Social Security office, or call Social Security’s toll-free customer service number at 1-800-772-1213, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday, to verify its legitimacy (TTY number at 1-800-325-0778). You may also report the information to the OIG at 1-800-269-0271 or online via https://oig.ssa.gov/report.
melody H.
I just received on today from a lady by the name of Diane Hill in Maryland with a phone number of 410-541-9290. I believe that this is another social security scam as well I told my grandmother not to answer the phone and let it go to answering machine and it was saying about the social security being compromised and a federal magistrate and if we did not call this number that she wished us luck.