Inspector General Warns Public About Caller ID “Spoofing” of Social Security Fraud Hotline Phone Number
Reading Time: 1 MinuteLast Updated: April 2, 2019
The Inspector General of Social Security, Gail S. Ennis, is warning citizens about a caller-ID “spoofing” scheme misusing the Social Security Administration (SSA) Office of the Inspector General’s (OIG) Fraud Hotline phone number. The OIG has received recent reports of phone calls displaying the Fraud Hotline number on a caller-ID screen. This is a scam; OIG employees do not place outgoing calls from the Fraud Hotline 800 number. Citizens should not engage with these calls or provide personal information.
SSA and OIG employees do contact citizens by telephone for official purposes, and they may request the citizen confirm personal information over the phone. However, the calls do not appear on caller ID as the Fraud Hotline number of (800) 269-0271. Also, SSA and OIG employees will never threaten you for information or promise any type of official action in exchange for personal information or payment. In those cases, the call is fraudulent, and you should just hang up.
If you receive a suspicious call from someone alleging to be from SSA or OIG, you should report that information to the OIG online at https://oig.ssa.gov/report or by calling (800) 269-0271, Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern Time. You can also report these scams to the Federal Trade Commission through a new site specific to Social Security scams: https://identitytheft.gov/ssa
See the full advisory at the OIG website.
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Andrew Cannarsa, OIG Communications Director
Andrew Cannarsa, OIG Communications Director
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Jacqueline S.
I received a message that seems suspicious. the number to my phone was 28199652245. The message said to call them, that they were the SS department and there was suspicious activity to my acct.
I did not respond, only reported it to this site
V.V.
Hi Jacqueline. Thank you for checking in with us. 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.
Ingrid
I too, was a victim of those calls, 8 of them two days in a row. I went to the National Do Not Call listing online and they have a place there to report harassing phone calls. By that afternoon despite TRYING to block the # myself I got more calls. After reporting it to the DO NOT CALL listing on the internet, the calls STOPPED!
V.V.
Hi Ingrid. Thank you for letting us know about these calls. Unfortunately there are some Social Security impersonation schemes that we are warning citizens about. 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.
Linda
+1 (305) 420-6976. This is the number that I was called on. If you call it back you can hear s teleconference room and the man identifies himself as SS ADMINISTRATION.
A.C.
Hi, Linda. Thanks for checking in with us. We do not usually make random calls. If 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. You can find additional information here. We hope this helps.
Kevin D.
I need to make an change. Disability is more physical. NOT
Claris C.
I received a voicemail from 1-281-731-4470 (Houston) purporting to be from the SSA and informing me that my SS number has been suspended because of “suspicious activity” and that, if I want to know about this case, I should press one. I did not press one and suspect this call is fraudulent. I received the call at 12:38 pm CDT on April 19, 2019.
V.V.
Hi Claris. Thank you for letting us know about the call. 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.
JAMES M.
I HAVE RECEIVED CALLS RECENTLY ON MY CELL PHONE THAT MY SOC. NUMBER IS BEING COMPROMISD. IS THIS A SCAM ?
V.V.
Hi James, thank you for letting us know about the calls. Unfortunately there are some Social Security impersonation schemes that we are warning citizens about.
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.
Karen L.
I received a call today that my Social Security number was frozen as it had been compromised.
The phone number the call came from was 484-971-4666.
V.V.
Hi Karen. Thank you for letting us know about these calls. 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.
Valerie G.
I received a call from (760) 369-8121 claiming that my Social Security number had “been suspended” due to a “crime.” The call was less than 30 minutes ago. I reported it to OIG, using the online form linked from some of your earlier replies, as soon as I found that link.
Thank you for making this information easily accessible.
L.Wice
I’ve received three calls within the past few days. The first said my SS# was frozen and I must call the # given to correct any problem. Two more came today but they both said my SS# was compromised.
The worse part is that I tried to report this to the SS hotline, I went from one automated line to another two more times. I was finally given the email I could send the info to.
Rod S.
Received 6 calls yesterday from someone indication a problem with our SS account. Each time was a different number on the caller ID. This has happened on multiple occasions. Anything we can do????