Inspector General Updates Public About OIG Impersonation Scheme
Reading Time: 2 MinutesLast Updated: August 19, 2021
Gale Stallworth Stone, the Acting Inspector General of Social Security, is urging citizens to remain vigilant of a nationwide telephone impersonation scheme. Since alerting the public in early March about suspicious calls from people posing as Office of the Inspector General (OIG) investigators, the Social Security Administration (SSA) and the OIG have received additional reports and information about the phone scheme from citizens across the country.
According to reports, the calls include a recorded message from an “officer with the Inspector General of Social Security.” The recording states the person’s Social Security account, Social Security number (SSN), and/or benefits are suspended, and the person should call a non-SSA number to resolve the issue. For instance, a common recording from “Nancy Jones” requests citizens call 806-680-2373. Upon calling the number, an unknown person alerts unsuspecting citizens about a warrant for their arrest. The unknown person urges citizens to purchase iTunes cards, other gift cards, or prepaid banking cards, for hundreds of dollars, and to provide the card information to the unknown person, to resolve the warrant.
Acting Inspector General Stone advises that citizens:
- Avoid calling any number provided by a suspicious source, as the unknown source might pressure you to provide your personal information, or to make a payment or purchase for fictitious reasons.
- Avoid making payments over the phone or purchasing gift cards or banking cards to resolve government or business matters.
“This scheme targets unsuspecting persons and uses scare tactics to defraud them of their resources,” Acting Inspector General Stone said. “Citizens should be very careful and avoid responding to suspicious calls. If an unknown person pressures you on the phone into providing payments or making purchases for odd reasons, don’t think twice about hanging up.”
If a person receives a similar suspicious call from someone alleging to be from the OIG, citizens may report that information to the OIG at 1-800-269-0271 or online via https://oig.ssa.gov/report.
If a person has questions about any communication—phone call, email, letter, or text—that claims to be from SSA or the OIG, 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. (Those who are deaf or hard-of-hearing can call Social Security’s TTY number at 1-800-325-0778.)
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Tags: fraud, Inspector General, Office of the Inspector General, OIG, social security, Social Security benefits, SSA
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Andrew Cannarsa, OIG Communications Director
Andrew Cannarsa, OIG Communications Director
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Scott G.
Yes do arrest warrants that come from having forced communication nano-chips in a person’s head. As the 4 chips in my head are rated as 13 normal ones and the source of these chips are alleged to have came from Google and Intel possibly produced them in the chip labrotories down in Silicon Valley California. They have been as lethal as all Uzi’s are illegal in a fully automatic function. My precedent setting victimization is wondering if there is a legitimate use of these chips beyond murder or insulating an innocent citizen of the USA. As I paid taxes for over 35+ years and these lethal as hell chips produced homelessness, a total loss of my earned life and possessions in total of 5-6 times, a major loss of $600,000.00 in Medicare costs along with blinded eye broken legs knees and hips on both sides, and about 2.2 years in jail along with the associated legal costs. Plus the damn things are still running and highly possible of killing me beyond the 14 times I have almost died already. So I do have legitimate concerns here and so does Social Security Medicare also hold a concern of the costs that could very well increase.
Google “chips in your head” to get more info on this 5+ year still running criminal event that exceeds murder in all ways except it has just began and the Doctors do not believe it is even possible. See my Medicare records to verify what I have factually written here!!!!!
Plus I am still alive in the Pasco WA area and also receiving Social Security mail at my PO Box yet it changes but I do put address changes in when this occurs.
scotterdman61@gmail.com
Scott G.
Yes please help me and help end anyone else receiving a death chip in their head. Francis Leo Dove (a breakfast cook by trade)is the alleged chipper of the Tri Cities area. He went to KHS he was in the class of 1980 and lived on 19th street in Kennewick WA.
As murder now has a lesser position than the lethal as hell chips have produced most recently enough our laws are not yet to be on the books of law nor are the bills that make laws to have begun. Yet this is an up and coming factuality nobody should be ignoring. We all met a car one day long ago and then roads began afterwards.
So please contact the government so officials before chips end life on Earth or even worse you or a loved one gets one in the head. Because a 5+ year long running crime is still running at a lethal as hell level.
SOS it is 911 strong and fully undetected!!!!!!!!!
RHONDA M.
SO THE NUMBER I RECEIVED A CALL FROM WAS 850-783-4482. OF COURSE THE PEOPLE THAT ANSWER HAVE A VERY HEAVY INDIAN ACCENT. i HAVE SWORN AT THEM SEVERAL TIMES AND THEY KEEP CALLING. TODAY I TOLD THEM ‘THIS CALL IS BEING RECORDED BY THE FBI” OF COURSE THEY HUNG UP. THIS HAS GOT TO STOP.
V.V.
Thanks for letting us know, Rhonda. 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.
malena c.
my nephew draws sosial sacirity and some inc company has been taking out 136.00 dolletrs a mounth for about 5 mounths social sacirity call me but it hang up the call so i got to tell mim my name and could not get back a hold of him what should i do my number is 7062188951 it id dustin west i am caretaker.