The NSA OIG joins the Social Security Administration (SSA) and other government agencies March 10 for Slam the Scam Day — part of National Consumer Protection Week — an SSA initiative that began in 2020 to combat Social Security-related scams and has expanded to include other government imposter scams.
In a government imposter scam, someone claims to be a government employee, and may ask for personal information, demand payment, or make threats. These scams primarily use the telephone, but scammers may also use email, text messages, social media, or U.S. mail.
To help warn the workforce of these scams and protect against them, SSA is sharing tips (click here) for spotting government imposter scams, which have caused consumers to lose more than $331 million dollars from January through September 2021 according to the Federal Trade Commission.
As part of their mission to detect and deter waste, fraud, and abuse, OIG urges everyone to be cautious of anyone who contacts you threatening to arrest or take legal action if you do not make some sort of payment or provide personal information. These scammers often demand payment with gift cards, debit cards, wire transfers or by mailing cash, and those are just a few examples of how they operate.
The office of the SSA Inspector General is continuing their work with law enforcement partners and partners from the private sector to combat these sinister schemes, and urges consumers to simply hang up the phone, or delete suspicious texts and emails, without responding to the scammers.
The public is encouraged to report Social Security-related scams and fraud online at https://oig.ssa.gov. Other government imposter scams may be reported to the Federal Trade Commission by visiting https://www.ftc.gov/scams.
If you believe to have evidence of waste, fraud, abuse, or misconduct at NSA, OIG encourages you to submit a hotline complaint form.