Inspector General Warns Public About Phone Scheme Targeting Former Conn Clients
Reading Time: 2 MinutesLast Updated: June 22, 2017
Gale Stallworth Stone, the Acting Inspector General of Social Security, is warning citizens about a phone scheme allegedly targeting former clients of Kentucky disability attorney Eric C. Conn. The Social Security Administration (SSA) and its Office of the Inspector General (OIG) have received reports that Kentucky citizens who used Conn’s law firm to assist with applying for Social Security disability benefits have recently received suspicious calls from people claiming to be from SSA.
According to reports, the callers claim to be from SSA and offer citizens $9,000 from a “Conn Client Compensation Fund” if the citizens send $200 to the “Federal Reserve Bank of New York.” The number associated with these calls is 202-681-5115. Those who have sent money have received additional calls; some callers report that citizens can receive greater compensation amounts if they send more money, while others threaten that citizens will be arrested if they do not send additional funds.
The Acting Inspector General is alerting citizens that SSA personnel are not making these calls, and the compensation fund described in the calls does not exist.
“This scheme appears to target economically vulnerable citizens and use scare tactics to defraud them of their resources,” Acting Inspector General Stone said. “Citizens should be very careful and avoid engaging with these suspicious callers. If an unknown person pressures you on the phone into providing payments for odd reasons, don’t think twice about hanging up.”
If a person receives a similar suspicious call from someone alleging to be from SSA or 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. (Deaf or hard-of-hearing individuals can call SSA’s TTY number at 1-800-325-0778.)
Conn pleaded guilty in federal court in March 2017 to participating in a scheme with a former SSA administrative law judge and multiple doctors that involved the submission of thousands of falsified medical documents to SSA to support disability applications. As a result of the scheme, Conn and his co-conspirators obligated SSA to pay $550 million in lifetime benefits for these fraudulent submissions. Conn is scheduled to be sentenced in July 2017; however, on June 2, 2017, he removed his electronic monitoring device and fled. On June 3, 2017, the FBI issued an arrest warrant for Conn for violating the conditions of his bond.
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Tags: fraud, Inspector General, Office of the Inspector General
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Andrew Cannarsa, OIG Communications Director
Andrew Cannarsa, OIG Communications Director
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James
I have been trying to contact someone about a fraudulent phone call the number that call me was 1-800–167-4857 and said that my social security number had been used for some type criminal activity
L.A.
Hi James. 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.
Real
I received several phone calls today, allegedly from the SSA administration saying that my SSN was suspended because they found suspicious activity, they asked to press “1” to know more about the case. The number shown on the call was PRIVATE NUMBER but I got the numbers on my voice mail and those are:
424-398-3393
310-683-5289
424-375-2210
310-683-5197
Be careful with these phone calls.
Carla b.
I’ve been receiving calls from this phone number .
708-609-5574 everyday for months
I finally got help locateing this web site.
You guys can make this a lot easier for us to help you catch these fraudulent callers.
Please crack down on these pest car
L.A.
Hi Carla. Thank you for letting us know about these calls. We do not usually make random calls. If you or 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. We hope this helps.
Joseph V.
Yes, i got a call from an unknown caller, she stated that my car was found, there were drugs, an so ,an so..then insisted that it was me,an i was not too interupt her,she was stern,bold, then said the car was found sime were by Texas, an if i wanted to fight this from the federal court house, that im looking at 9 years, an all said an done, it was an unknown caller, NO number..”)she was already blaming all this on me, so i said what?? Kind of car was this, a toyota corrolla,that is were they found my social security card,an i.d…/ i never really been out of California…it was weird, but she knew my birthdate,an social security number, wow..it was sorta scary, tho.”) I can say that ,an after she hung up, she said, that my social security number was gonna be shut off
Golda M.
I received a threat phone call about being arrested and to call this number back which I did not do. 1-469-275-0676.
A.C.
Thank you for letting us know, Golda. Unfortunately, there are some Social Security impersonation schemes that we are warning citizens about. See our recent blog posts:
IG Warns Public About Fraudulent Phone Calls Threatening Arrest or Legal Action
Beware of Scammers Pretending to be Social Security
If you receive these calls, please report the information to the Office of the Inspector General at 1-800-269-0271 or online. Thanks, again!
john
i have gotten a call like this once before. but they say that i committed fraud against my ss number. spoof a number and cant even get it right . this is the number they gave me 8002-458-9752 , then they tel you to pres 1 and uyou will be transferred to the DEA who has nothing to do with ss.