Social Security Impersonation Scams Spike More Than 31 Percent: Report

A Social Security card sits alongside checks from the U.S. Treasury in Washington on Oct. 14, 2021. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

The Social Security Administration (SSA) saw impersonation scams jump by almost a third in the second quarter of fiscal year 2024, with people aged 50 and above suffering the highest number of losses, according to a recent report.

The SSA received several reports of scammers “impersonating government employees or alleging a Social Security-related problem to steal money or personal information from victims” in the second quarter between Jan. 1 and March 31, said the July 18 report.

The SSA’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) received 26,875 such allegations, up 31.6 percent during the same period last year.

The top complaint, nearly 45 percent, involved impersonators contacting the victim and claiming there was an issue with their Social Security number, said the agency. In some scams, they said there was a problem with the victim’s benefits.

Fraudsters were found using documents or images such as a federal logo when communicating with the victims.

In a sizable number of cases, scammers impersonated officials from federal, state, or local government agencies other than SSA authorities.

Individuals aged 50 and above reported a higher average and higher number of losses compared to younger people. Those who were scammed in the 70–84 age group lost the most at $10,562 on average.

To raise awareness of the issue, the SSA mailed more than 87 million letters to U.S. citizens in the second quarter with a scam alert message printed on the back of envelopes. “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 SSA Commissioner Martin O’Malley.

The SSA advised people who receive a suspicious call, text, email, social media message, or letter from anyone claiming to be from the agency to “ignore the message.” People should avoid clicking on any links or attachments received from such suspicious entities.

The agency warned against sharing personal information with suspect groups even if they know personal details. “If we need to reach you, we will mail you a letter,” SSA stated.

Scammers often insist they can solve any Social Security problem if they are paid via wire transfer, cryptocurrency, gift card, money transfer, prepaid debit card, or cash. This is a red flag, the agency said.

Impersonation Scam Alerts

Warnings about impersonation scams have also been issued by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). “Impersonation scams are on the rise and often use the names and titles of government employees,” the agency said in June.

Earlier that month, the FBI Portland Division issued a similar alert, asking citizens to be aware of scammers impersonating FBI agents.

The agency pointed out that impersonation scammers typically use an urgent, aggressive tone, refusing to speak or leave a message with anyone other than the target victim. The impostor urges victims not to divulge conversation details with others.

“Scammers often spoof caller ID information, and these phone calls are fraudulent even if they appear to be coming from an agency’s legitimate phone number,” the agency said.

In addition to government officials, fraudsters are also impersonating utility company representatives to defraud citizens. Scammers impersonate electric, gas, or water company officials and threaten residents to pay some fees or face deactivation of service.

According to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), scams impersonating government agencies and well-known businesses are “consistently among the top frauds” reported to the agency.

More than 330,000 business impersonations and almost 160,000 government impersonation fraud scams were reported to the FTC last year. These represented almost half the frauds registered directly to the agency.

The impersonation scams resulted in losses of $1.1 billion in 2023, more than three times the amount reported in 2020.