Scams against our seniors is an ongoing problem. And it seems that as soon as a scam is discovered and publicized, those perpetuating the scams find a new way to victimize our elder population – whether it is by phone, Internet or from another source.
There's a new phone scam targeting Social Security beneficiaries that advocates for older adults should be aware of. The Federal Trade Commission is warning that scammers are engaging in a caller ID trick called "spoofing" to make it appear that they are calling from the Social Security Administration (SSA).
Justice in Aging, a national non-profit legal advocacy organization that fights senior poverty, recently reported on the latest of these scams.
In this phone scam, callers claiming to work for the social security administration are asking seniors for personal information, social security numbers or bank information, in order to process an increase in benefits. Their technology even allows them to show on your caller ID that the call is from Social Security. If you do not supply the information, they threaten to cut off your benefits.
As always, the safest thing to do when receiving one of these calls is to hang up. The Social Security Administration will not threaten you.
The call can be reported to SSA’s Office of Inspector General at 1-800-269-0271 or https://oig.ssa.gov/report.