The Social Security Administration (SSA) and its Office of Inspector General (OIG) are issuing a warning about a new scam where fraudsters impersonate agency employees to trick individuals into revealing their Social Security Numbers (SSN).
Scammers contact people unexpectedly, claiming they need the SSN to verify employment records, addresses, or check for fraudulent benefit applications. They may direct victims to online forms or official-looking websites. This tactic is a pretext to obtain personal information for identity theft or to fraudulently apply for benefits.
Real SSA and OIG employees will never contact individuals unexpectedly to ask for personal information or bank details, threaten to suspend an SSN, demand payment via gift cards or cryptocurrency, or ask recipients to keep secrets. They also will not tell people to move money to protect it.
To protect against these scams, the public is advised to never share their SSN with anyone who contacts them first. Individuals can check their earnings and benefit information securely through their personal my Social Security account. Suspected scams should be reported to ssa.gov/scam, and identity theft victims should contact the Federal Trade Commission at www.identitytheft.gov.