A common phone call scam that people have been receiving states that your Social Security number is suspended for suspicious activity. It then prompts you to speak to a government agent in order to receive help resolving the issue.
This scam has been going on for over a year, if not longer, and are robocalls that pretend to be from a government official who states that suspicious or fraudulent activity associated with your social security number has been detected. The robocall then prompts you to call back or speak to an agent in order to resolve the issue.
As the FTC notes, Social Security numbers cannot be suspended, so any calls stating that they are is simply a scam. The attackers are just trying to trick you into providing your birth date, bank account numbers, social security numbers, and other sensitive information.
"Thing is, Social Security numbers do not get suspended," the FTC states in an advisory. "This is just a variation of a government imposter scam that’s after your SSN, bank account number, or other personal information. In this variation of the scheme, the caller pretends to be protecting you from a scam while he’s trying to lure you into one."
When receiving a call about your Social Security number, it is important to remember these important facts:
■ The number for the Social Security Administration is 1-800-772-1213. Never call another number provided in a phone call or email.
■ The Social Security Administration will never threaten to arrest you.
■ A Social Security number cannot be suspended.
■ Never provide your Social Security number to unknown individuals who contact you.
These scams utilize different scripts when performing robocalls. A current script being used by this scams is:
The reason you have received this phone call from our department is to inform you that we just suspended your social security number because we found some suspicious activity. So if you want to know about this case just press 1. Thank you.
Another variant is listed below that is more aggressive as they threaten to issue an arrest warrant if you do not call them back.
Law enforcement agencies to suspend your Social Security number on an immediate basis, as we have received suspicious trails of information in your name. The moment you receive this message, I need you to get back to me on my department division toll-free number that is 1-888-952-5554. I repeat 1-888-952-5554. Verify the last four digits of your Social Security number when you call to better assist you with this issue. Now, if I don’t hear a call from you, we will have to issue an arrest warrant under your name and get you arrested. So, get back to me as soon as possible. Thank you.
As always, be careful out there and remember that the Social Security Administration will not call and threaten to arrest you, ask for bank account information, or other sensitive information. Calls that ask for this information are scams and should be immediately hung up on.
