Social Security Administration officials are warning Americans about a new phone scam in which criminals are impersonating Social Security officials in an effort to gain personal information.
Both the Social Security Administration and the Office of the Inspector General have received reports from people across the country about phone calls from individuals posing as SSA employees.
"The caller attempts to acquire personally identifiable information from victims to then [access] the victims' direct deposit, address and telephone information with SSA," according to an alert on the agency's website.
The potential thieves are calling from a telephone number with a 323 area code, and are claiming to be SSA officials who are delivering the news of a “1.7 percent cost-of-living adjustment.”
The impostors then ask victims to verify all their personal information, including their Social Security numbers, date of birth, even their parents' names.
If they manage to get the info, they then contact the SSA and request changes to the victim’s accounts.
Inspector General Gail Stallworth Stone said there may be occasions where the SSA might contact citizens over the phone, but those people will be aware of the contact beforehand. It's very rare that the SSA would just contact Americans out of the blue, Stone said.
She warned about giving personal information over the phone.
“You must be very confident that the source is the correct business party, and your information will be secure after you release it,” Stone said.
If you receive a suspicious call from the SSA, contact the OIG and report it at either;
1-800-269-0271, or online via https://oig.ssa.gov/report.
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