SSA impersonation scam

An SSA impersonation scam, or SSA scam, is a class of telecommunications fraud and scam which targets citizens of the United States by impersonating personnel of the Social Security Administration. SSA scams are typically initiated by pre-recorded messages, or robocalls, which are designed to panic the victim so that they follow the scammer's instructions. In 2018, over 35,000 incidences^[spelling?] of SSA scam robocalls were reported to the Better Business Bureau, and the total losses of victims added up to over $10 million.^[1] It is believed that approximately 47% of Americans were subject to an SSA impersonation scam robocall during a three-month period in mid- to late 2020, and that 21% of seniors were targeted by at least three SSA scam robocalls in the same time period.^[2][3]

Operation

Initiation

An example of a typical SSA impersonation scam robocall

Most Social Security scams that occur start with computer-generated robocalls sent out in large quantities which claim to be from the Social Security Administration, however some have been known to be initiated via email and text messaging.^[4] The message claims that the victim's Social Security number (SSN) has been or is going to be suspended, for reasons which include money laundering, drug dealing and fraud,^[5] which are claimed to have been found to be linked to the victim's SSN. In variations of the scam, the call may even claim that the recipient's bank account is at risk and action must be taken to stop the immediate freezing or seizure of money from the account, that failure to comply with the call's instructions will result in the cancellation of government benefits, or that legal action is about to be taken against the recipient.^[3] After this, the call demands that the recipient call a "helpline" so they can learn more about the case. Most calls use social engineering in order to make potential victims panic and call them.^[6] Caller ID spoofing is often employed by the scammers, who sometimes send out their robocalls in a way so they appear to come from legitimate SSA phone numbers, to boost the credibility of the robocall.^{[7][8][9][10]}

Persuasion

Once a victim calls the fictitious helpline, scammers based in call centers attempt to persuade them further, making the victim believe the legitimacy of the call, usually with help of a pre-written script. A particularly common script alleges that the victim's social security number was used to rent a car in Texas, which was later discovered abandoned and containing blood and drugs by law enforcement near the Mexico–United States border.^[11] The scammers sometimes use the real names and badge numbers of SSA employees and spoof their phone numbers in order to legitimize the robocall.^[4][12] It has been suggested that scammers have taken advantage of data breaches in order to persuade the victim that they are speaking to a legitimate government employee, by information gained from data breaches back to the victim.^[13] During this phase, scammers also aim to gain as much of the victim's personal information as possible, such as their name, a partial or full SSN or their date of birth, usually under the guise of "verifying the caller's identity."^[14] Victims may also be added to a sucker list if the scam is successful so that they can be targeted with other scams.^[15]

Payment

Social Security scammers will request payment from the victims through untraceable routes, which are mainly through gift cards, pre-paid debit cards, wire transfer, cryptocurrency, or even packages of cash sent by mail.^[16][17][18] The payment will undergo money laundering before it is claimed by the social security scammer. As a response to the increased usage of gift cards as untraceable means of payment by scammers, several companies have posted advisories warning about potential fraudulent uses,^[19] however it has been reported that victims who have been successfully convinced by scammers often overlook warning signs and proceed to purchase gift cards.^[20]

Increase in usage

 

A graph showing the number of reported IRS impersonation robocalls and scams compared to the number of reported SSA impersonation robocalls and scams.

Since 2017, there has been a rapid increase number of SSA impersonation scam robocalls. In 2017, 3,200 incidents of SSA scam robocalls were reported to the FTC with losses of US$210,000. In comparison, during 2018 over 35,000 incidents of SSA impersonation scam robocalls were reported, with losses totaling to over US$10 million.^[1] MSN News stated that in the first three months of 2019, over 65,000 incidents of attempted SSA impersonation scams were reported.^[21]

It is believed that SSA impersonation scams are now preferred over IRS impersonation scams by fraudulent call centres, the latter scam undergoing a sharp decline in late 2016.^[22][23]

Losses

According to the Federal Trade Commission, in 2018 over US$10 million were lost in total, with an average loss of US$1,500 per victim.^[23] A citizen in Ohio reportedly lost over US$4,000 after falling for an SSA impersonation scam.^[24] A retired professor in San Francisco fell victim to the scam and sent $4,000 in gift cards to the scammers, before posting a package consisting of $20,000 via delivery courier FedEx to a money mule working for the same group of scammers. The package, along with another sent by a victim living in Boston, has since been seized by authorities in Fairfax County and returned to their owners.^[25] In 2019, US$153 million was lost to scams impersonating government agencies, and according to the Federal Trade Commission, US$37 million of that was attributed to Social Security scams.^[26]

See also

• Advance fee fraud
• Confidence trick
• IRS impersonation scam
• Overpayment scam
• Scambaiting
• Technical support scam

References

1. "This is what a Social Security scam sounds like". Consumer Information. Federal Trade Commission. December 27, 2018. from the original on December 12, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
2. "How to Tell If Calls From Social Security Are Scams". AARP. from the original on November 28, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
3. "Press Release: Mayor Bowser Urges Residents to be Vigilant Against Increasing Telephone Scams Targeting Social Security Numbers". TheDCLine.org. from the original on December 19, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
4. Skiba, Katherine (January 13, 2021). "Social Security Impostors Take Scams to the Next Level". AARP. from the original on January 14, 2021. Retrieved January 19, 2021.
5. Tompor, Susan. "New Social Security phone scam makes you out to be a criminal". Detroit Free Press. from the original on February 2, 2021. Retrieved January 19, 2021.
6. Weisbaum, Herb (July 13, 2019). "Get a call from the Social Security Administration? It's the latest government imposter scam". NBC News. from the original on November 26, 2020. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
7. "Protect Yourself from Social Security Number Spoofing Scams". Federal Communications Commission. April 11, 2019. from the original on December 3, 2020. Retrieved December 15, 2020.
8. Cohen, Howard (September 4, 2019). "A caller says your Social Security number is suspended. Here's how to report that scam". Miami Herald. from the original on December 19, 2020. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
9. Singletary, Michelle (December 2, 2019). "Have you received one of those Social Security scam calls? There's a new way to report it". The Washington Post. from the original on December 31, 2020. Retrieved December 22, 2020.
10. Umawing, Jovi (January 10, 2019). "Social Security Number scammers are at it again". Malwarebytes. from the original on November 23, 2020. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
11. "'Blood and cocaine' scare tactic used in latest phone scam, police say". WKBN-TV. July 16, 2019. Retrieved July 6, 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
12. "Scam Awareness". Social Security Administration. from the original on December 31, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
13. Singletary, Michelle (July 8, 2019). "No, that's not the government calling threatening to 'suspend' your Social Security number". The Washington Post. from the original on December 31, 2020. Retrieved January 11, 2020.
14. Hartman, Rachel (September 4, 2019). "Don't Fall for the Suspended Social Security Number Scam". U.S. News & World Report. from the original on December 20, 2020. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
15. Haines, Avery (October 24, 2020). "The 'suckers list': How scammers repeatedly target victims". CTV News. from the original on December 17, 2020. Retrieved December 31, 2020.
16. Fletcher, Emma (October 16, 2018). "Scammers increasingly demand payment by gift card". Federal Trade Commission. from the original on November 9, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
17. Hebert, Amy (May 10, 2016). "Scammers push people to pay with iTunes gift cards". Consumer Information. Federal Trade Commission. from the original on November 4, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
18. Weiss, Gary (June 12, 2019). "How Scammers Use Gift Cards to Steal Your Money". AARP. from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
19. "About Gift Card Scams – Official Apple Support". Apple. from the original on December 15, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
20. Tompor, Susan (September 21, 2016). "New scam: Student puts $1,762 on iTunes cards to pay IRS". Detroit Free Press. from the original on November 13, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
21. Lahey, Susan (August 25, 2020). "Common Social Security scams & how to avoid them". MSN. from the original on December 31, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
22. Carrns, Ann (May 3, 2019). "Latest Rash of Scam Calls Come From 'Social Security' (Published 2019)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. from the original on December 31, 2020. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
23. Fletcher, Emma (April 12, 2019). "Growing wave of Social Security imposters overtakes IRS scam". Federal Trade Commission. from the original on December 31, 2020. Retrieved December 22, 2020.
24. Matarese, John (September 24, 2020). "Social Security scam steals $4,000 from Loveland woman". Cincinnati: WCPO-TV. from the original on October 23, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
25. Jouvenal, Justin (December 6, 2020). "A professor thought he was sending money to help federal officials catch human traffickers. It was a scam". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. from the original on December 31, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
26. Konish, Lorie (March 5, 2020). "Social Security scams are on the rise. Here's what you need to know to stop them". CNBC. from the original on November 25, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2020.