WARNING: Recently we have become aware of a scam where thieves claiming to be Social Security personnel are contacting people by telephone in an effort to obtain personal information. Usually the thief will tell the potential victim that they are from the Social Security Administration and that they are depositing some money into their bank account. They will then ask for their bank account numbers and try to obtain other personal information. The thieves are often very persistent and will call back more than once.

Protect yourself. Do not give out personal information over the phone unless you initiated the contact. Although Social Security Administration employees do a lot of work by telephone, our calls are usually in response to something that you originally started yourself such as filing a benefit application or by calling or writing a SSA office. Remember also that the Social Security Administration does not endorse products for sale. Again, protect your personal information. If in doubt about a Social Security related phone call, get all the information you can from the caller including their name, callback phone number, and office address. Then hang up and verify the information by calling your own local SSA office. Local office phone numbers are in phone books and on the SSA website, www.socialsecurity.gov.

ACTION

If you receive such a call, take these steps.

You should never provide your SSN or other personal information over the phone, unless you initiated the contact or are confident about who you are talking to (e.g., you are familiar with the name from previous contact with SSA.) SSA does not routinely contact beneficiaries by phone to obtain personal information.

Please contact the Office of Inspector General (OIG) Hotline to report the incident. See below:.

Contacting SSA Office of the Inspector General (OIG) Fraud Hotline

A. Contact Information

The SSA OIG has a special hotline set up to handle reports of fraud, waste and program abuse. Individuals can contact the hotline by any of the following methods:

• Phone: 1-800-269-0271 The hours of operation are: 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time
• Mail:

SSA OIG Fraud Hotline
P.O. Box 17768
Baltimore, MD 21235
• FAX: 410-597-0118
• Internet: www.socialsecurity.gov/oig

Procedure For Writing To The Hotline

If a caller chooses to send a written message to the hotline (i.e., via mail, FAX, or Internet), include the following information:

• name, address, phone number, and SSN of the alleged violator. If the SSN is unknown, include as much identifying information as possible (e.g., date of birth, place of birth, parent's names)
• complete description of the potential violation
• caller's name, address and phone number

NOTE: The caller's name is very important to an investigation and without it; SSA OIG may not be able to investigate the allegation.