The Inspector General of the U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) is warning about new scams in which scammers use fake government IDs. The criminals behind this type of scam try to trick potential victimsinto giving up personal information (usually Social Security numbers) or sending money.
Scams impersonating government officials and agencies are widespread, with scammers' tactics constantly evolving. According to BleepingComputer, victims reported losing more than $174 million to government scammers in 2020, with the average loss being around $1,250.
According to the Office of the Inspector General (OIG), one of the scammers' "weapons" is the use of fake IDs, which are made in such a way as to resemble those used by government employees.
Specifically, the warning states the following: "The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has received reports of phone scammers creating fake versions of the identification badges most government employees use to gain access to federal buildings. The badges use government symbols, words, and even names and photos of real people, which are available on government sites searches Internet."
Additionally, to convince their targets that identity and requests are legitimate, scammers send emails or photos of fake government IDs.
The U.S. SSA Inspector General noted: “If you owe money to Social Security, the agency will send you a letter with payment options and appeal rights. If you receive a letter, text, call, or email about an alleged problem with your Social Security number, account, or payments that you believe is suspicious, hang up or do not answer.”
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) also warned on March 3 about reports it has received of scammers calling or sending messages/emails impersonating U.S. government officials. The FTC is therefore advising U.S. citizens to:
- Don't trust caller ID. Scammers manipulate caller ID to make it appear that the call is coming from an official government number. Citizens should look up a service number on their own and call if they are interested in finding out information.
- Additionally, the FTC emphasizes that government agencies, such as the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) or the Social Security Administration (SSA), will never call or email someone to tell them they owe money. They will also never tell someone to pay with gift cards, cryptocurrency, or money transfers.
- It is particularly important that citizens do not provide their personal information to anyone who contacts them.
- Finally, the Inspector General recommends that citizens report incidents directly through the SSA website if a Social Security-related scam targets them.
