Social Security Scammers are Thriving

VintageBetter

VintageBetter

Senior Member
Social Security warning issued to millions of Americans

"According to the SSA's Office of the Inspector General, there was a 61.7 percent increase of reported scams between Q3 of the financial year in 2022 and the same period in 2023. In the former, just over 13,000 scams were reported, rising to 21,080 in the latter.

The SSA explained in a release made on Thursday that scammers employ a variety of tactics known as the five P's: "Pretend, Prize or Problem, Pressure, and Payment." Common scams involve a fraudster claiming a person's Social Security number or benefits is suspended and they need your personal information to reactivate or reissue, being told they need to pay to access their benefits, or that a person owes money to the SSA and needs to pay immediately."

In other words, if you think a phone call from an unknown number might be someone trying to harm you, you may not be paranoid at all! o_OšŸ¤ŖšŸ˜œšŸ˜¢
 

scamsterd and conmen have been around for centuries. Would anybody like to buy these molars from Saint Fraudian? They protect against the plague and ingrown toe nails.
 

Not just SS but anything financial on the web. Over the last few months despite spam removals by AT&T on my email app, have seen plenty of realistic phishing emails I ignored without selecting any embedded links and deleted, that I wonder how far less technically savvy people might react. If I receive even legitimate emails from companies, I never select links but rather go to whatever corporate web sites and drill down.

A link's displayed text may seem harmless because ANY text can be coded in since the real issue is a link hidden from display html text that requires looking at the source code to decipher. One thing I strongly dislike with most email tools is how they don't allow easily viewing that text.
 
I put a call blocker on our phone a couple of years ago. If we get a call we don't recognize, we let it ring, and seldom do they leave a message, so we add that to our list of blocked calls. We used to get a dozen such calls per day, but in recent months we often go days without one, so I guess the scammers have "blocked" our number.
 
I don't open emails from unfamiliar sources, click links, or open attachments unless I'm expecting them.

With my phone, I don't reply to texts unless they're from friends or I'm expecting them (like when signing into an account and receiving a code for 2 step verification), and have my phone screen calls from unfamiliar numbers.

A very healthy dose of paranoia is necessary these days.
 
Note, simply opening an email from the Inbox of any popular email tool for basic display within such email tools, is safe. Selecting any links that removes one from the safety of the app are the danger. Thus view whatever is on one's display... but don't select anything. Note info specifics. Exit the email and the email tool. If the email supposed source was shown in the email and of personal interest, go directly to whatever site if a legitimate business or service, then drill down safely.
 
I really don't have much pity for those who fall for Social Security scams. If people are stupid enough to go for these scams, the scammers will keep doing them. You don't give your Social Security number out to anyone. No one!
 
David777 said:
Note, simply opening an email from the Inbox of any popular email tool for basic display within such email tools, is safe. Selecting any links that removes one from the safety of the app are the danger. Thus view whatever is on one's display... but don't select anything. Note info specifics. Exit the email and the email tool. If the email supposed source was shown in the email and of personal interest, go directly to whatever site if a legitimate business or service, then drill down safely.
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When our small business had a strong retail component, I got specific notifications from my email blast service telling me who opened/viewed the emails I'd sent, plus the general area of the country/world where the email was opened.

So while a phone or computer is SAFE when merely open an email, doing so can identify you as a possible target.

I use an email client that shows the first few lines of emails without my needing to click on them, making spam and phishing expeditions pretty easy to spot.
 
Hereā€˜s a great example of why itā€™s hard to go after many scammers. CDK is a company now brought to its knees by cyber criminals. Thousands of car dealers depend on its computer systems for sales and service. Note where the criminals are located.

CDK hackers want ā€œmillionsā€ in ransom to end outage.

CDK is planning to make the payment, according to information provided to Bloomberg.

Attackers are an ā€œEastern European cybercrime groupā€.
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No doubt many SS scammers are off shore criminals also.
 
Brookswood said:
Hereā€˜s a great example of why itā€™s hard to go after many scammers. CDK is a company now brought to its knees by cyber criminals. Thousands of car dealers depend on its computer systems for sales and service. Note where the criminals are located.

No doubt many SS scammers are off shore criminals also.
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Both literally and metaphorically, people have to build 10 foot walls to protect themselves from the bad guys, meanwhile the bad guys are building 11 foot ladders.

While people and companies are distracted with everyday life or business challenges, increasing numbers of predators solely focus on getting past measures protecting our homes, assets, personal information and corporate security.

Our culture was built on an expectation that our neighbors will be "good" and honest. That served well for many centuries. No more.

With the internet plus free phone calls from and to anywhere in the world, one who appears to be a "good neighbor" can be someone 12,000 miles away, looking very unlike they portray themselves, and having nefarious motives that are well hidden by those 11 foot ladders.

Paranoia isn't only useful, it's an absolute necessity in today's world.
 
Paladin1950 said:
I really don't have much pity for those who fall for Social Security scams. If people are stupid enough to go for these scams, the scammers will keep doing them. You don't give your Social Security number out to anyone. No one!
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Are they stupid or just too trusting? Not everyone is computer savvy or even have computers. They are the ones less likely to even be aware of these types of scams. Some people have led very sheltered lives that cause them to be unaware of the evils of the world. Also, some may have dementia or cognitive decline that causes them to have faulty judgement and make bad decisions.
 
OneEyedDiva said:
Are they stupid or just too trusting? Not everyone is computer savvy or even have computers. They are the ones less likely to even be aware of these types of scams. Some people have led very sheltered lives that cause them to be unaware of the evils of the world. Also, some may have dementia or cognitive decline that causes them to have faulty judgement and make bad decisions.
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Outside of financial institutions, when forms ask for my SS number, I supply a fake one. That info is none of their business.

Agree that cognitive declines can make us very vulnerable indeed. I saw it happen with my dear FIL.
 

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