Recently, there has been another scam related to Social Security going around. Scammers are pretending to be the Social Security Administration office in order to obtain your personal information. If you receive a letter from Social Security stating that you created an online account that you actually did not create, then you need to act immediately.
A sample of the scam letter is below. If you receive a letter similar to the one below, someone has already used your personal information to create a fake account. Take action immediately!
You can take action by following these steps:
Report the incident to the Office of the Inspector General at 1-800-269-0271 or online and following the instructions provided.
Call the Social Security office to flag your account at 1-800-772-1213 and click this link to view additional information directly from Social Security.
If you have any concerns about your credit being compromised, put a credit freeze on your account by clicking this link. You can do a free credit check every year by calling 1-877-322-8228 or going online.
Although it is nearly impossible to stop all scammers from targeting you, there are steps you can take to protect yourself from falling victim to scams.
Never give out or confirm your personal information over the phone, in email, or online until you have checked out whoever is asking you for it and confirmed the authenticity of the request.
Do not trust a name, phone number, or email address just because it looks like it is connected with the government. Scammers are able to spoof authentic numbers on your caller ID, meaning they make the caller ID look like a specific telephone number (such as from Social Security Administration) when it is actually coming from a different number. In addition, con artists will use official sounding names or email addresses in order to trick you into trusting them. Keep in mind that usually the government contacts people by postal mail.
Contact government agencies directly by calling their legitimate telephone number and using websites that you know are legitimate.
You can find more tips here: Stopping Unsolicited Calls, Emails, and Mail. For more information about protecting you and your child's identity, see Million Mile Secrets' article Protect Your Identity (and Your Children's) When You Travel.
Source: Social Security Administration and Better Business Bureau