Social Security Warning Issued to Millions of Americans

The Social Security Administration (SSA) has issued a warning for Americans regarding scams that are stealing benefits from thousands of recipients each year.

As part of its annual Slam the Scam Day, held on March 7, the SSA warned that criminals are using "sophisticated tactics" to get beneficiaries to disclose personal information that can put their government benefits at risk of being stolen.

According to the SSA's Office of the Inspector General, there was a 61.7 percent increase of reported scams between Q3 of the financial year in 2022 and the same period in 2023. In the former, just over 13,000 scams were reported, rising to 21,080 in the latter.

The SSA explained in a release made on Thursday that scammers employ a variety of tactics known as the five P's: "Pretend, Prize or Problem, Pressure, and Payment." Common scams involve a fraudster claiming a person's Social Security number or benefits is suspended and they need your personal information to reactivate or reissue, being told they need to pay to access their benefits, or that a person owes money to the SSA and needs to pay immediately.

"Other common tactics include citing 'badge numbers,' using fraudulent Social Security letterhead, and creating imposter social media pages to target individuals for payment or personal information," the SSA explained in the release. Newsweek has contacted the SSA to see if it has any further comment via email outside of normal working hours.

The SSA also explained that it will never do any of the following:

• tell you that your Social Security number is suspended,
• contact you to demand an immediate payment,
• threaten you with arrest,
• ask for your credit or debit card numbers over the phone,
• request gift cards or cash,
• promise a Social Security benefit approval or increase in exchange for information or money.

In recent years, scams involving coronavirus-related issues have also arisen. According to the SSA, these involve the imposter mentioning things like COVID-19 stimulus checks and economic impact payments.

Scams have been successful among all age groups, but those aimed at older generations are more lucrative for the criminals who operate them. According to the Office of the Inspector General's quarterly scam report, those aged between 70 and 84 lost the largest average amount of money in Q3 of 2023—$14,459. In comparison, for those aged 29 and under, the average amount stolen was $3,809.

In the same period, those under 50 were most likely to fall for scams, with 816 individuals falling prey to scamming tactics, in comparison to 741 people aged over 50.

"As public servants, we must use every tool at our disposal to raise awareness and protect the American people against Social Security imposter scams," said Martin O'Malley, commissioner of Social Security. "Scammers use fear and deception to scare people out of their critical benefits. We urge everyone to protect their personal information, remain vigilant, do not give money, and report any scam attempts to oig.ssa.gov."

"On our fifth National Slam the Scam Day, we are just as committed as we were in 2020. The scammers have not stopped, and we will not stop in our commitment to increase public awareness of these pervasive scams," said Gail S. Ennis, inspector general for SSA. "We are grateful for the many partnerships we have formed over the last five years in support of this initiative and the collaborative efforts that have come forth. We must continue to work together to slam the scam."