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. Christine M.

    Is this alert available in a language other than English?

  2. IK

    682-777-9975 i got a call from this number

  3. Avelina E.

    We received a Voicemaill from 1-800-772-1255. The caller stated that we are under investigation by the drug enforcement agency and the police department and wanted us to call 1-718 -514-7690, HQ of the SSA Department.

  4. teresa r.

    got a call like this from a 325-484-4046 number when i told them i was reporting this to the police they hung up on me

  5. Al J.

    Received a similar “artificial” sounding intelligence(?) voice saying my SS account showed fraudulent activity and to call back regarding possible enforcement against me. This time the number is 505-716-4842.

  6. Robert G.

    I received a call from 765 727-0826 at 11:06 PST this morning indicating that I would be arrested for multiple new banking accounts and sending of money overseas. My SSN would be blocked from any further use and I would shortly see officials at my home to arrest me.

    • Vonda V.

      Hi Robert, thank you for checking in with us. Unfortunately there are some Social Security impersonation schemes that we are warning citizens about.

      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.

  7. Elise

    Scam call this morning… Call back Dale at 805-980-7306 to discuss ‘all the charges being brought against me’… was a computerized voice
    Who is following up on all of these and making some arrests???
    I know better, but alot of people don’t

  8. Linda

    I received a call today at 4:50 pm advising me that my SS Number has been suspended. The Number was 1-800-325-0778. When I returned the call I was informed it was a TTY Number and I should call 1-800-772-1213. When I called that Number it was the SSI number to report fraud and a recorded voice asked for my SS#. I refused and hung up. What’s going on as these numbers appear to be legitimate. Now I’m afraid to even call Social Security Telephone Numbers. Do I have to go to our local SSI office or is this a scam???

    • Ann C.

      Hi, Linda. Hi. We do not usually make random calls or request your personal information. If someone calls you saying that they are from Social Security, do not give them your personal information. Instead, contact your local Social Security office or call 1-800-772-1213 to see whether we really need any information from you. Thanks.

  9. Danielle B.

    I just filed my second fraud report in the last week with the Office of the Inspector General. I received fraudulent/scam automated phone calls and voicemail messages on my cell phone. The first call I received was on Friday, January 4, 2019 at 4:42 p.m. Central Standard Time from the number 1-800-772-1222. Today, January 7, 2019 at 11:53 a.m. and 1:55 p.m. Central Standard Time I received the same automated message and voicemail from the actual Social Security Administration Customer Service 1-800 number (1-800-772-1213). The message states, “This call is from the Department of Social Security Administration the reason you have received this phone call from our department is to inform you that we just suspend your Social Security number because we found some suspicious activity so if you want to know about this case just press one thank you.” Then the message repeats a second time. I’m pretty sure this a scam or fraud. I’ve never heard of a Social Security number being suspended.

  10. Mario R.

    The reason why I am contacting you is, recently I got a phone call from a so called officer telling me that they detected a fraudulent event with my social security number. Unfortunally I did not get the required info in order to make a formal report. I will be getting in touch went I get reply from you.

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