There are fake Social Security Administration (SSA) employees or scammers calling people with warnings that their Social Security numbers had been linked to criminal activity and suspended. The callers then steal their potential victims' personal information and money by claiming they can reactivate their Social Security number or be issued a new one for a fee.
It is recommended that you call Social Security Administration’s customer service line at 800-772-1213 to confirm whether a communication purporting to be from them is legit or a scam. Below is a list of things you should not do:
- Don’t assume a call is legitimate because it appears to come from 800-772-1213. Scammers use “spoofing” technology to trick caller ID.
- Don’t give your Social Security number or other personal information to someone who contacts you by email. SSA never requests information that way.
- Don’t click links in purported SSA emails without checking them. Mouse over the link to reveal the actual destination address. The main part of the address should end with “.gov/” — including the forward slash. If there’s anything between .gov and the slash, it’s fake.