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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Ricky B.
They just left me a message to call them back at 806-642-4581. I spoke with a woman who had a really heavy Mexican accent and was very hard to understand. Supposedly a car was rented and abandoned in Texas using my name and had a bunch of cocaine in it. When she said that money had been sent to my bank account I knew it was a scam because I had been online checking my bank account a couple of hours earlier and I knew for a fact no money and been sent to it in weeks. She gave me a case number and a badge ID number, apparently to make it sound more legit. I was suspicious when the 806 area code was supposed to be a government agency. I told her she was lying and hung up. Outside of my name and last 4 digits of my SS Number she got nothing, unless they had caller ID and then they got my phone number. It is obvious they are trying to do things quickly to keep you off guard so you are more likely to give them what they ask for. Since they don’t know where I live or much of anything else I’m not overly concerned. It seems that SSA Legal Proceedings is not a legitimate organization but that is who they claimed to be. I should have been suspicious when my caller ID said Unknown. I knew something wasn’t right when the phone rang several times when I called back.
Vonda V.
Thanks for letting us know, Ricky. Generally, we will only contact you if you have requested a call or have ongoing business with us. Recently, scams—misleading victims into making cash or gift card payments to avoid arrest for Social Security number problems—have skyrocketed. Our employees will never threaten you for information or promise a benefit in exchange for personal information or money.
If you receive a suspicious call like this: 1) Hang up. 2) Do not provide personal information, money, or retail gift cards. 3) Report suspicious calls here. For more information on how to protect yourself, check out our Frequently Asked Questions. We hope this helps.
David P.
My wife and I have both been receiving recorded phone messages demanding that we call them back and give them the last 4 digits of our social security numbers to assist with a legal matter, and if we don’t they will have me arrested. Do you want to know about these phone calls, or what should we do about them?
Vonda V.
Thanks for letting us know, David. Generally, we will only contact you if you have requested a call or have ongoing business with us. Recently, scams—misleading victims into making cash or gift card payments to avoid arrest for Social Security number problems—have skyrocketed. Our employees will never threaten you for information or promise a benefit in exchange for personal information or money.
If you receive a suspicious call like this: 1) Hang up. 2) Do not provide personal information, money, or retail gift cards. 3) Report suspicious calls here. For more information on how to protect yourself, check out our Frequently Asked Questions. We hope this helps.
Joanne
I just received a phone call that MY number is being used for social security scam phone calls. Is there anything I can do?
Roger P.
Received call from 1-784-584-2507 threatening me with arrest. Caller had thick Indian accent.
Vonda V.
Thanks for letting us know, Roger. Generally, we will only contact you if you have requested a call or have ongoing business with us. Recently, scams—misleading victims into making cash or gift card payments to avoid arrest for Social Security number problems—have skyrocketed. Our employees will never threaten you for information or promise a benefit in exchange for personal information or money.
If you receive a suspicious call like this: 1) Hang up. 2) Do not provide personal information, money, or retail gift cards. 3) Report suspicious calls here. For more information on how to protect yourself, check out our Frequently Asked Questions. We hope this helps.
Jfk
No validity boundover valid sheild sexual misconduct federal lisaon.
John
FTC and FCC received thousands of complaints about 800-772-1213 calls https://www.reportedcalls.com/8007721213
Cherry892@msn.com
People from Texas are calling me to say I have been scammed please check into this
adıyaman t.
Sigara üretim noktasında önemli bir yere sahip olan tütün eksperleri, 2 veya 4 yıllık eğitime sahip kişilerdir. Bu kişiler daha çok tütün işleme fabrikalarında çalışan görevliler olarak öne çıkıyor. Ürünlerin kaliteli şekilde birbirlerinden ayrılması ve doğru oranın yakalanması noktasında önemli görevleri yer almaktadır. Manisa’nın Akhisar ilçesinde bulunan tütün eksperliği bölümünden mezun olan kişiler, tütün işleme fabrikalarında göreve başlar. Böylece Adıyaman tütünü (http://www.adiyamantutunum.com/tutun-eksperi-kimdir-ve-ne-Is-yapar) ya da bu gibi pek çok farklı tütün için doğru ayrıştırma görevini üstlenir.
Sable
833-920-2450
Pretending to be Social Security, my SS has been stopped to fraudulent activity. Must be another number to scam people from.
Ann C.
Hi, Sable. Thanks for letting us know. Generally, we will only contact you if you have requested a call or have ongoing business with us. Recently, scams—misleading victims into making cash or gift card payments to avoid arrest for Social Security number problems—have skyrocketed. Our employees will never threaten you for information or promise a benefit in exchange for personal information or money.
If you receive a suspicious call like this: 1) Hang up. 2) Do not provide personal information, money, or retail gift cards. 3) Report suspicious calls here. For more information on how to protect yourself, check out our Frequently Asked Questions. We hope this helps.
Alex
It’s correct. These calls will be dangerous. You can set the ringtone of strange number calls on your phone from Sonnerieportablegratuite.com. To know when to listen and when not to.