A new scam? From the Social Security Administration?

[question everything]

This is what the person said when I answered the phone. From the Social Security Administration the account has been "suspended.." this is as far as he went. I hung up.

Neither the IRS, nor any other government agency, not a bank not a utility company will call to announce a "suspension" or worse.

Besides, both of us get SS benefits and the caller did not address either.

As a matter of principle, when someone calls and is not asking for a member of the household, I hang up.

Yes, even when he says: grandpa? (or grandma) and mentions our name...

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. Apparently this scam is a big one:

https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/2018/12/what-social-security-scam-sounds

[question everything]

5. Yes, this was it.

[spartan61]

2. I have received this call several

times. I just laugh and hang up because they can't "suspend" my account. I'm a retired teacher from Connecticut and teachers in CT don't get SS nor can I receive my deceased husband's SS. What account are they going to suspend?

[HAB911]

3. Just got the same call

this is how my Jolly Rodger bot handled it

https://soundcloud.com/user-39956888/jrt-on-2019-08-27-10-27-from-social-security

[Ilsa]

21. That was funny, but I never say "yes" or "sure"

or use a recording to imply consent, just to be on the safe side and give them anything they could use.

[MineralMan]

4. Yeah, both my wife and I have gotten those calls.

We just hang up. the SSA doesn't call people on the phone. They send you a letter via USPS.

There are so many scams out there. Nobody who calls me on the phone gets any information at all. Period. If someone claims there is a problem with my account, I log into that account, whatever it is, and check there. There's never a problem - just a scam.

I've also gotten the "Hi, Grandpa" call a couple of times. Since I never fathered any children, that one's clearly a scam every time.

[Archae]

7. Same here with the "Grandpa" one.

I said I have no kids and sure as hell no grandkids, and hung up.

[MiniMe]

6. I don't answer the phone any more unless it is from somebody I know

Love caller ID, and a lot of those kind of numbers come up as spam on the caller ID. I figure if it is important they will leave a message.

[mnhtnbb]

8. I got one of these calls yesterday and didn't answer because it was an unknown number

BUT, the male robot left a message saying it was very important that I call the number back.

I called the Social Security number from the ssa.gov website and got a recording--before anything else--saying lots of scams exist and to report them there were two options: one on the internet and one a specific number to report fraud, abuse, etc.

Here's what the SSA website says:

Please beware of individuals impersonating Social Security employees over the phone. Reports about fraudulent phone calls from people claiming to be from SSA continue to increase, and recent reports have indicated unknown callers are using increasingly threatening language in these calls. If you suspect you have received a scam call, you should hang up, and then report details of the call to the Office of the Inspector General at ‎1-800-269-0271 or online at https://oig.ssa.gov/report - Read more...

Since it was a holiday, I elected to make the report on-line, which at least gives the OIG the phone number these scammers are using. Here's the link for making a report: https://oig.ssa.gov/report

[raccoon]

9. Thanks for posting this. NT

[Andy823]

10. Is it just me or

have the number of these kinds of calls increased during the tump years?

I have gotten them for years, but lately it's almost every day, two to three times a day!

[elocs]

11. The thing is that the scams work often enough to make them profitable. n/t

[Scarsdale]

13. A man with an Indian accent told me that my

SS number had been used in Texas, and to hold the line for a specialist to take my information. Yeah, right, I'll do just that! I hung up.

[oswaldactedalone]

12. I use call block on my cell

whenever Rachel from cardholder services or the other spam calls come in. After you block three or four of their common “spoof” numbers, the calls stop. We still have a landline at my wife’s insistence and don’t answer it unless the message is legit.

[BSdetect]

14. I get quite afew calls asking for "Maria" or other name

I at first said "you have the wrong number" but then they say "Perhaps you can help me" - and I now hang up.

[BamaRefugee]

15. You got off easy! My robo-calls tell me that US Marshals are coming to my house!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

18. I got that one once.

The message says it's from the IRS and you owe some huge amount of back taxes, and if you don't return the phone call immediately they will send federal marshals to arrest you. I can't imagine someone falling for this scam, but apparently many people do.

[Stuart G]

16. This is NOT NEW.. Scam has been around a while. Another post on it from MAY 13. 2019

...Date, May 13, 2019, Consumer Advise Forum
Title of thread: "Got a Scam Call today ....from this number 619-245-4623..A San Diego number"


https://www.democraticunderground.com/1112540.....

Another very important point on this, If these calls are 3 and 1/2 months apart, and assume that they have been going on during that time...It means, that the scam is working and some people are getting taken. If the scam was not working, then the scammers would have stopped it by now, and moved on to something else.

[kskiska]

17. I get messages wanting to contact a name I don't recognize

about a legal case against me. I block them all, but still they come.

[coolcat_riley]

19. Block them all.....

I always block those calls. I also report them to the FTC and share their numbers on my social media, so that more people will be aware of these scammers. I have just received several calls from 332-331-8595. Didn't pick them up, though. Googled it and found some reports have been filed at https://www.whycall.me/332-331-8595.html about similar SSA scams.

[LoveMyCali]

20. I got a call today

and they left a voice mail saying there was suspected fraudulent use of my social security number. Since I know they wouldn't call for something like this I just deleted the message.