[NFBNJ] Social Security Administration and its Inspector General Announce New Online Reporting Form for Imposter Scam Calls

[joe ruffalo]

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Subject: FW: Social Security Administration and its Inspector General 
Announce New Online Reporting Form for Imposter Scam Calls




Social Security Administration and its Inspector General Announce New Online 
Reporting Form for Imposter Scam Calls


The Inspector General for the Social Security Administration, announced the 
launch of a dedicated online form at https://oig.ssa.gov  to receive reports 
from the public of Social Security-related scams.

These scams—in which fraudulent callers mislead victims into making cash or 
gift card payments to avoid arrest for purported Social Security number 
problems—skyrocketed over the past year to become the #1 type of fraud 
reported to the Federal Trade Commission and the Social Security 
Administration.

To combat these scams, Social Security and the OIG will use the new online 
form to capture data that will be analyzed for trends and commonalities. The 
OIG will use the data to identify investigative leads, which could help 
identify criminal entities or individuals participating in or facilitating 
the scams. Ultimately, these efforts are expected to disrupt the scammers, 
help reduce this type of fraud, and reduce the number of victims.

Commissioner Saul and Inspector General Ennis encourage the public to use 
the new online form to report Social Security phone scams including 
robocalls and live callers, as well as email, text, and in-person scams. The 
form allows people to create a unique Personal Identification Number (PIN), 
so if OIG contacts a person about their report, they will know the call is 
legitimate.

Social Security employees do occasionally contact people--generally those 
who have ongoing business with the agency--by telephone for business 
purposes. However, Social Security employees will never threaten a person, 
or promise a Social Security benefit approval, or increase, in exchange for 
information or money. In those cases, the call is fraudulent and people 
should just hang up.

Generally, the agency mainly calls people who have recently applied for a 
Social Security benefit, someone who is already receiving payments and 
requires an update to their record, or a person who has requested a phone 
call from the agency. If a person is not in one of these situations, they 
normally would not receive a call from the agency.

Social Security will not:

*    Tell you that your Social Security number has been suspended.
*    Contact you to demand an immediate payment.
*    Ask you for credit or debit card numbers over the phone.
*    Require a specific means of debt repayment, like a prepaid debit card, 
a retail gift card, or cash.
*    Demand that you pay a Social Security debt without the ability to 
appeal the amount you owe.
*    Promise a Social Security benefit approval, or increase, in exchange 
for information or money.

If there is a problem with a person’s Social Security number or record, in 
most cases Social Security will mail a letter. If a person needs to submit 
payments to Social Security, the agency will send a letter with instructions 
and payment options. People should never provide information or payment over 
the phone or Internet unless they are certain of who is receiving it.

The Social Security OIG will also continue to take reports of fraud, waste, 
and abuse in Social Security’s programs and operations. A separate online 
form for those reports remains available at their website 
<https://www.ssa.gov/fraudreport/oig/public_fraud_reporting/form.htm> .

.


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