RECENT SCAMS: SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER SCAMS INCREASE
Posted
on Friday, January 11, 2019
in
Privacy & Security
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is warning consumers of fraudsters posing as representatives from the Social Security Administration (SSA) in an attempt to steal consumer's Social Security numbers (SSN). For example, the fraudster will contact the victim and tell them their SSN is blocked and to reactivate it, the consumer must confirm their SSN and/or pay a fee. The FTC advises consumers to never provide their SSNs to anyone who contacts them and to exercise caution when answering calls that appear to be from the SSA.
This scam is now growing exponentially. To compare: in 2017, the Federal Trade Commission heard from 3,200 people about SSA imposter scams, and those people reported losing nearly $210,000. In 2018, more than 35,000 people reported the scam, and they reported losing $10 million.