{"id":69397,"date":"2021-03-09T10:21:20","date_gmt":"2021-03-09T15:21:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/?p=69397"},"modified":"2021-03-09T10:21:20","modified_gmt":"2021-03-09T15:21:20","slug":"heres-my-badge-beware-the-new-social-security-scam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/?p=69397","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Here\u2019s My Badge\u2019 \u2013 Beware the New Social Security Scam"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"field field--name-field-summary field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item\">\n<p>A scammer \u2013 whether contacting via email, phone or text \u2013 needs to convince you he\u2019s legit, and some are willing to show you official badges. But they\u2019re not official.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"field field--name-field-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item\">\n<p>NEW YORK \u2013 So you just got a text from Social Security and the guy even tried to reassure you that he\u2019s the real deal by texting you a picture of his badge.<\/p>\n<p>Should you feel that things are on the up-and-up and respond?<\/p>\n<p>The scammers who are out to steal your Social Security number and your money now have a new game going. They\u2019re not just spoofing phone numbers out of Washington. They\u2019re now impersonating someone from Social Security by sending photos of government badges.<\/p>\n<p>The crooks have created fake versions of ID badges that many federal employees use to gain access to federal buildings.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe scammers play on emotion, generally fear, to get people to act without thinking,\u201d Social Security Administration Commissioner Andrew Saul said in a press call Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>He said it\u2019s essential that people simply hang up and not even engage with the caller. Don\u2019t let anyone threaten you or harass you into thinking that your Social Security number is connected to a criminal investigation.<\/p>\n<p>Social Security isn\u2019t going to call to threaten your benefits or tell you to wire money, send cash, or put money on gift cards. But scammers make such calls every hour on the hour.<\/p>\n<p>CVS shoppers might have even heard in-store announcements lately from the Social Security Administration to warn them about such scams.<\/p>\n<p>Walmart and Home Depot participated in the latest awareness campaign, too. You don\u2019t want to buy a gift card \u2013 and then read off the card numbers to someone on the phone who claims to be from law enforcement or Social Security.<\/p>\n<p>In some cases, your caller ID may show the real SSA phone number \u2013 800-772-1213 \u2013 when the scammers call. But again, the con artists are able to spoof this number and make it look more legitimate.<\/p>\n<p>Consumers continue to get alarming phone calls from someone who claims to be from law enforcement or Social Security. The caller then may try to scare you into thinking that your Social Security number has been connected to running drugs and money laundering across the border.<\/p>\n<p>The crooks use a variety of tactics, including rattling off a \u201cbadge number\u201d of law enforcement officers, sending email attachments containing personal information about an \u201cinvestigation\u201d and texting links to click on and \u201clearn more\u201d about a Social Security-related problem.<\/p>\n<p>The Federal Trade Commission advises:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Do not trust caller ID. Scam calls may show up on caller ID as the Social Security Administration and look like the agency\u2019s real number, but it\u2019s not the SSA calling.<\/li>\n<li>Your Social Security number is not about to be suspended. And your bank accounts are not about to be seized.<\/li>\n<li>Don\u2019t verify your Social Security number or any other personal information to anyone who calls out of the blue. If you already did, visit IdentityTheft.gov\/SSA to find out what steps to take now.<\/li>\n<li>If you believe you or someone you know is a victim of elder fraud, file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission online at www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov or call 877-382-4357.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In 2020, the Social Security Administration received more than 730,000 scam complaints \u2013 with victim losses hitting more than $59 million.<\/p>\n<p>Only about 1.5% of the people who reported a scam to Social Security alleged they had lost money. The average for those who did claim to lose cash was $6,100.<\/p>\n<p>The Office of the Inspector General for the Social Security Administration notes: \u201cIf you ever owe money to Social Security, the agency will mail you a letter with payment options and appeal rights. Social Security does not suspend Social Security numbers or demand secrecy from you in resolving a problem \u2013 ever.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>One criminal out of suburban Chicago ran a telemarketing scheme where callers falsely claiming to be from the Social Security Administration and U.S. Department of Justice told people their identity had been stolen. To get out of the mess, the ID victim was to transfer money to various bank accounts, which later supposedly would be paid back.<\/p>\n<p>An elderly woman from Massachusetts ended up transferring more than $900,000 from her bank and retirement accounts to scammers.<\/p>\n<p>Hirenkumar P. Chaudhari, 27, of Des Plaines, Illinois, pleaded guilty on Jan. 6 to one count of money laundering, according to the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office of the Northern Illinois District. Chaudhari allegedly used a phony Indian passport and false names to open those bank accounts.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey get kept on the phone for hours, if not days, at a time,\u201d said Gail S. Ennis, inspector general for the Social Security Administration.<\/p>\n<p>The same set of scammers may even pretend to be from different agencies and make a string of calls to the same victim.<\/p>\n<p>While some victims are elderly, Ennis said, the scammers are reaching out to all age groups.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey\u2019re not targeting,\u201d she said. \u201cThey are merely robodialing<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A scammer \u2013 whether contacting via email, phone or text \u2013 needs to convince you he\u2019s legit, and some are willing to show you official badges. But they\u2019re not official. NEW YORK \u2013 So you just got a text from Social Security and the guy even tried to reassure you that he\u2019s the real deal [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1401,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_expiration-date-status":"saved","_expiration-date":0,"_expiration-date-type":"","_expiration-date-categories":[],"_expiration-date-options":[]},"categories":[9,59,61],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69397"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1401"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=69397"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69397\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":69398,"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69397\/revisions\/69398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=69397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=69397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=69397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}