Scam Callers Target Social Security Information

Phone scams have become a major thorn in the side for just about everyone recently. The Department of Ag, Trade, and Consumer Protection says there are a number of different tactics scammers are using to steal information or money – and Director Michelle Reinen points out a social security scam that is using the idea of protecting against scammers as their ploy. 

She says “the imposters are calling and they are indicating that scam artists are trying to trick people out of their personal information – big surprise there – but they are telling them that they need to reactivate their suspended social security number.”

Reinen tells us the scammers are asking for confirmation of your social security number and birth date, along with “all of the very important information that we don’t want you to share
with anyone, especially an unsolicited phone call. So there is no suspension of
Social Security numbers, there is no need to reactivate this information, the
government did not have a glitch in their system and things were not
suspended.”

She says “these are out of the blue phone calls, they’re unsolicited. The government doesn’t make those kinds of phone calls, so there’s no need to respond to them. If you accidentally picked up the phone, just drop it back down and hang up.”