Frauds & Scams

IG Warns Public About Fraudulent Phone Calls Threatening Arrest or Legal Action

December 7, 2018 • By

Reading Time: 2 Minutes

Last 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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About the Author

Andrew Cannarsa, OIG Communications Director

Andrew Cannarsa, OIG Communications Director

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Comments

  1. Lawana l.

    I just got a voice mail from. 682-224-7355. From officer sukie? Said that she was from the social security office. Call came from Fort Worth Texas but she said she was in New York. The voice mail said if I would kindly call as soon as possible to avoid legal Proceedings that would be nice. And on top of that it was a recording. My son called it back and boy did he have fun with the lady scammer on the other end. He said that he did not know where I was at and she said that I was there with her doing her house work and I needed to go to the hospital. So she put another lady on the phone and said it was me as I sat right next to him, and 40 minutes later she said that I had died because I had to go the hospital. And then she wanted to talk to my grandkids. It was quite funny but I did report it to the Social Security office.

  2. Angela

    Today I was contacted by phone # 347-732-2738. A male with an accent informed me that he was Officer “insert name I didnt catch,” and inform me that his badge number was 742609310 and the case id was DC7010, warrent #537542 and that he needed to verify my info in order for the Sheriff’s department not to arrest me. I only verified my name and that I have never lived in Texas where he claimed someone had used my identity to traffic drugs. When I insisted that I speak to someone else he informed me he would transfer me to a “federal marshal.” He told me to stay on the line while he tried to contact/transfer. I smelled a rat, and hung up. He tried to call back at the same 347 number but i didnt answer. Then someone tried calling me from my hometown’s area code (734), when I answered a gentleman with a very deep voice (ny accent- where the 347 # is from) asked if I wanted him to arrest me. He stated he would literally come to my door in the next few minutes and arrest me if i didnt comply. I told him i didnt believe he was legitimate and was going to call the local police. He said, “Fine, you go ahead!”
    They also kept telling me to leave my house for the next hour or Id be arrested…..

  3. Kylene

    Got a call from 210-966-9321 they wanted my name and SSN, get bent buddy! Just so you have another number they are calling from.

  4. No n.

    So, it’s not only your SSN you need to protect. Be on top of your name and make sure someone with the same name who lives in the same zip code as you doesn’t end up benefitting while you struggle to buy food for your child and you. (She never did have to pay for anything. The judge dismissed all credit company legal charges and said it was their mistake they got the wrong person, so they could absorb the $300k debt she owed. She still owns her house. I just started getting updates from Trulia that the house was worth more. Trulia mixed me up with her! But I have nothing left for them to take except my dog and a car that barely makes it to the doctor and back.)

  5. RON

    I RECEIVED A CALL FROM A SERGEANT,WHO STATED HE WAS FROM THE S.S.O.THE TELEPHONE NUMBER HE USED WAS, 210-361-1417. I DID NOT ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS. I CALLED THAT NUMBER AND THE MALE ANSWERED S.S.O.IS THAT NUMBER FICTITIOUS CALL. THANK YOU.RON

    • V.V.

      Hi Ron, thank you for checking in with us. Chances are this call was not from Social Security. Instead of calling the number they provide, if you ever have any 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).

      • JME

        Call your local SSA office? Hell no, they will not accept calls. What are you talking about? This was 2 months ago, before the shutdown. Stop telling people to call their local office.

  6. Charlene W.

    Thank you for the update, this has been very informative.

  7. Laura B.

    Just received a phone call from “Social Security” on my cell phone, phone number that called showed up as 1118007321614, stating that my social security was fraudulent, that it would be stopped, etc. I hung up! Would be nice to be able to get something done about this stuff.

  8. Grayson D.

    what steps do you take went your mail is open ,left in box??

    • Douglas N.

      Contact the police and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

  9. David S.

    COMMON SENSE SAYS IF THEY ARE CALLING YOU ABOUT ANYTHING WRONG WITH YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER AND HOW IT HAS BEEN USED< THAN THEIR SHOULD ALREADY HAVE YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER. HANG UP FAST

  10. Anthony C.

    I received a call from someone supposedly representing Medicare and wanting to send me free braces for back or leg pain, etc. When I refused to give my current Medicare number to accept the free braces, I was told since someone else could benefit from the free braces, and I refused to give my Medicare Number or accept the braces, my Medicare benefit would be cancelled.

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