[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/www.amorusolaw.com\/blog\/fraudulent-social-security-calls-still-targeting-seniors-greenwich-ct-white-plains-ny\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/www.amorusolaw.com\/blog\/fraudulent-social-security-calls-still-targeting-seniors-greenwich-ct-white-plains-ny\/","headline":"Fraudulent Social Security Calls Still Targeting Seniors","name":"Fraudulent Social Security Calls Still Targeting Seniors","description":"\u201cYou\u2019ve probably received one: A recorded call warns of a problem with your Social Security number. To fix it and avoid legal action, you\u2019re told, you must call back immediately\u2014and pay up.\u201d You\u2019d think everyone would know to ignore these calls. However, these criminals are so convincing, says The New York Times in the article […]","datePublished":"2020-04-02","dateModified":"2023-07-29","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.amorusolaw.com\/blog\/author\/amorusolaw\/#Person","name":"Amoruso & Amoruso LLP","url":"https:\/\/www.amorusolaw.com\/blog\/author\/amorusolaw\/","identifier":5,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/12de032c04195e9c39a06a6d6eea182f7b4fa655c20e245f8094a244b5cdd0cb?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/12de032c04195e9c39a06a6d6eea182f7b4fa655c20e245f8094a244b5cdd0cb?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Amoruso & Amoruso LLP","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.amorusolaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/amoruso-logo.svg","url":"https:\/\/www.amorusolaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/amoruso-logo.svg","width":0,"height":0}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.amorusolaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/6a01901dd0a082970b025d9b41c813.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.amorusolaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/6a01901dd0a082970b025d9b41c813.jpg","height":566,"width":849},"url":"https:\/\/www.amorusolaw.com\/blog\/fraudulent-social-security-calls-still-targeting-seniors-greenwich-ct-white-plains-ny\/","about":["Elder Financial Abuse","Elder Law","Fraud","Robocalls","Scams","Social Security","Spoofed"],"wordCount":655,"keywords":["Elder Financial Abuse","Elder Law","Fraud","Robocalls","Scams","Social Security","Spoofed"],"articleBody":" \u201cYou\u2019ve probably received one: A recorded call warns of a problem with your Social Security number. To fix it and avoid legal action, you\u2019re told, you must call back immediately\u2014and pay up.\u201dYou\u2019d think everyone would know to ignore these calls. However, these criminals are so convincing, says The New York Times in the article “How Not to Become a Victim of Social Security Fraud Calls“, that many people fall for the schemes and end up losing money. They buy gift cards and often, give up their personal PIN (Personal Identification Number), losing thousands of dollars.It\u2019s not clear whether the volume of calls is increasing. However, the government is getting thousands of complaints about them, reports the Social Security Administration\u2019s inspector general, Gail Ennis. There have been 250,000 online complaints made since a new dedicated digital reporting form was released in November 2019.Other regulators are also reporting a flood of complaints. The Federal Trade Commission has received more than 166,000 complaints about fraudulent Social Security calls last year, and the average individual loss is about $1,500. The Senate\u2019s Special Committee on Aging said that Social Security impersonation schemes were the single most reported fraud on its fraud hotline last year.In January, the committee heard from a woman who lost $150,000 in a Social Security scheme.The government is trying to fight the fraud in a few different ways. The Justice Department took legal action in January against two telecommunication companies that it says serve as \u201cgateways\u201d for illegal robocalls, by funneling them to the U.S. from oversees. However, stopping the calls is not easily accomplished. There are many gateway telecommunications companies, so hitting two just means that the criminals will take their business elsewhere.Congress passed the Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act (TRACED), which requires telecommunication companies to adopt technology to identify spoofed calls. Spoofed calls are calls that appear to come from legitimate phone numbers. However, the FCC has yet to set rules for how the law will be carried out, so relief for consumers may be as far as a year away.Here\u2019s what you need to know about Social Security and other fraudulent calls:Don\u2019t answer calls from unfamiliar numbers. Let the calls go to voicemail, or the answering machine, if you still use one.If you answer the phone and someone demands money immediately, hang up.Report the call to the inspector general\u2019s office on the Social Security Administration\u2019s website. There\u2019s a form that asks you to create a unique identification number, so you can ask for that number if anyone calls to verify their identity.Be aware that even a phone call that appears to be from Social Security mostly likely will not be from the agency. Schemes that involve a suspension of benefits work because they target senior\u2019s biggest fear\u2014losing their benefits.There are other Social Security schemes. Some involve official looking papers, and there has been an increase in the number of scams that start with an official-looking text. The Social Security Administration does not text people, unless they have signed up to have authentication codes sent to your phone when logging into a Social Security account.There\u2019s not much that can be done by the individual to stop the endless stream of robocalls. You can register your number on the Federal Trade Commission\u2019s Do Not Call list, but that will only reduce calls from legitimate telemarketers. The criminals will still call. The best advice is not to answer the phone, unless it\u2019s from someone you know, and never, ever give in to demands of immediate payment. That\u2019s always a red flag for fraud.Reference: The New York Times (March 6, 2020) “How Not to Become a Victim of Social Security Fraud Calls”For more information on elder law, asset preservation and estate planning, please visit my estate planning website."},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Blog","item":"https:\/\/www.amorusolaw.com\/blog\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Fraudulent Social Security Calls Still Targeting Seniors","item":"https:\/\/www.amorusolaw.com\/blog\/fraudulent-social-security-calls-still-targeting-seniors-greenwich-ct-white-plains-ny\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]