Social security phone scam falsely identifies ‘suspended’ accounts. Local police issued warnings throughout St. Tammany and Terrebonne residents Monday about a recent phone scam targeting Social Security numbers.
According to WWLTV, the typical victim would receive a phone call claiming that their Social Security number was recently suspended. The caller would then instruct the victim to call a different phone number to resolve the issue and get their Social Security number restored.
One sheriff from Terrebonne, Jerry Larpenter, stated that some victims gave such confidential information as their bank account numbers with the hope that it would “unflag” their Social Security number.
The report further states that some residents were even deceived into making payments to the scammers who claimed to be Social Security representatives.
Once the personal information is captured, the caller would abruptly hang up the phone.
Law enforcement agencies throughout Terrebonne, St. Tammany and other parts of the Louisiana are now focused on educating their residents on how to avoid these deceptive scams.
For instance, the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office published a Facebook post about the scam – asking readers and followers of the agency’s social media presence to share the post with their own friends and family members.
The Social Security Administration (SSA) published an online article that focused on scam awareness tips to help concerned citizens protect themselves. For example, the federal agency encourages all citizens to keep their Social Security card safe and stored within a secured location instead of carrying it around with them.
Regarding the threats of potential scams, the SSA advises citizens to “be aware” of these scams in order to “identify them and guard against them.” There is also a fraud hotline specifically designated to handle Social Security scams in addition to an online site for scam reports. It is also important to remember that the SSA would never use the phone to contact people about their SSNs and other personal information.
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