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
Andrew Cannarsa, OIG Communications Director
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Don O.
I received a call saying my Social Security number was used and I would be put under arrest.
L.A.
Hi Don. Thank you for letting us know about these calls. We do not usually make random calls. If you or anyone receives calls saying that they are from Social Security, do not give out any personal information. Suspicious calls should be reported to the Office of the Inspector General at 1-800-269-0271 or online. You can also report these scams to the Federal Trade Commission through a new site specific to Social Security scams here. Just a reminder – please be cautious about posting personal information on social media. We hope this helps
donald l.
got call from +18056377243 said my ssi was fraud,voice mail said call no. or i get arrested. thanks. Don
L.A.
Hi Donald. Thank you for letting us know about these calls. We do not usually make random calls. If you or anyone receives calls saying that they are from Social Security, do not give out any personal information. Suspicious calls should be reported to the Office of the Inspector General at 1-800-269-0271 or online. You can also report these scams to the Federal Trade Commission through a new site specific to Social Security scams here. We hope this helps.
Shelley J.
It’s very deflating, emotionally, to hold or be told it’s an hour hold time by a robot voice. I was left a # in my voice mail to return the call, but of course I did not. I just wanted to leave this # 415-524-7635. And mine also 713-449-2133. But nope, no option. I sure hope nobody falls for this.
Julia
I got a call a little while ago from an Indian man from a 312-500-6609 number, he called me by my name and said that someone in Texas is using my social security number for money trafficking. He asked me if i shared my ss number with anyone i said no, he said do you have your ss card i said yes and i am not giving you any info. Then he proceed to tell me my home address and said they are going to come to my house and arrest me i said i dare you to come to my house, come to my house and i will give you a piece of my mind, he said i couldn’t talk to an officer of the law like that i said oh yea what are you going to do, then he hung up on me. What a bunch of scammer, they annoy me so much!! they need to stop these people.
L.A.
Hi Julia. Thank you for letting us know about these calls. We do not usually make random calls. If you or anyone receives calls saying that they are from Social Security, do not give out any personal information. Suspicious calls should be reported to the Office of the Inspector General at 1-800-269-0271 or online. You can also report these scams to the Federal Trade Commission through a new site specific to Social Security scams here. We hope this helps.
michelle j.
these people have been calling me LITERALLY 18+ times a day. I had 12 voicemails yesterday from these crooks!!! I block the number but they will call from another one ten mins later.
L.A.
Hi Michelle. Thank you for letting us know about these calls. We do not usually make random calls. If you or anyone receives calls saying that they are from Social Security, do not give out any personal information. Suspicious calls should be reported to the Office of the Inspector General at 1-800-269-0271 or online. You can also report these scams to the Federal Trade Commission through a new site specific to Social Security scams here. We hope this helps.
Majida E.
Hello i got a call from this number 5749665636 telling me that my SSN is fraudulence and they are going to freeze all my account this call was not pleassant and hope there will be any action to stop this scam.
-Thanks –
Roy M.
I got a call that my ss# was use in illegal activity and would be cancelled in 24 hours. SSA doesn’t work this way. The number was 855-532-2583. Just sharing just in case you get this call or phone text.
dennis d.
I got a call saying I was involved with illegal stuff in Texas and was doing money laundering, saying this is going to cost me $200,000 and there is a warrant out on me, I tried to record this, but I couldn’t even hardly understand this lady. I wanted to say the phone # was 1800 916 9871 sure scared the heck out of me, she wanted my local police departments number to tell them that its a mistake and the warrant will be removed, just telling you all to check it out. I called and ss was closed. ty Dennis
Chris
Have gotten four calls from this number today: +1 (888) 996-9892. Pretty darn annoying.
L.A.
Hi Chris. Thank you for letting us know about these calls. We do not usually make random calls. If you or anyone receives calls saying that they are from Social Security, do not give out any personal information. Suspicious calls should be reported to the Office of the Inspector General at 1-800-269-0271 or online. You can also report these scams to the Federal Trade Commission through a new site specific to Social Security scams here. We hope this helps.
John
I’ve gotten 5 phone calls today from 5 different numbers saying they are from Social Security and I have been committing fraud. I know a scam when I see it. Here are the numbers they call from if this helps. 202-738-9722, 202-753-2356, 202-767-5078, 202-755-0057, and 202-768-5968. I did talk to someone from the last number and told them not to call again and I was reporting them. Not sure if this will help. But we received all these call in a 4 hour period.
L.A.
Hi John. Thank you for letting us know about these calls. We do not usually make random calls. If you or anyone receives calls saying that they are from Social Security, do not give out any personal information. Suspicious calls should be reported to the Office of the Inspector General at 1-800-269-0271 or online. You can also report these scams to the Federal Trade Commission through a new site specific to Social Security scams here. We hope this helps.