Remember, never provide your Social Security Number or other sensitive information, like your bank account or credit card number, over the phone, unless you are confident who you are talking to.
And, always verify information with a legitimate government organization. If you get a call from a government official, confirm you are speaking with a legitimate employee by actually hanging up and calling the official number for that organization.
And, don’t use untraceable methods of payment. If you are asked to make a payment using wire transfer, gift cards or cash it is most likely a scam.
Also, the scammers can make their calls appear legitimate, by using internet technology to spoof the area code they are calling from, to make it appear as if they are calling from Washington, DC, but are actually calling from other countries or areas outside of the capital.
Victims of this scam are asked to contact the police and the Social Security Administration for help.