News SSA Shares Scam Awareness Resources as Payment and Notice Systems Move Online

SSA shared scam awareness resources for community partners to distribute. The agency notes that scammers continue to impersonate government offices, threaten loss of benefits, and pressure people to quickly share personal information or send money.

Resources

The "Protect Yourself from Scams" page at ssa.gov/scam includes examples of reported scams, tips for recognizing fraudulent communications, steps to take if targeted, and information about scammers using fake social media accounts and artificial intelligence.

SSA also recommends creating a my Social Security account at ssa.gov/myaccount, which lets a person "safely access your personal Social Security information" and "manage your benefits without relying on unsolicited contact."

The agency suggests four community actions: encourage people to rely on official SSA channels, share scam awareness information on social media, help people set up accounts, and report suspicious activity.

What this means for your practice

Over the past several months, SSA has ended paper checks, moved notices into the online Message Center, and expanded online self-service. Every one of those changes creates a script for a scammer: your check is being discontinued, we need your bank information today. People who have just been told that their payment method is changing are exactly the people most likely to believe that call.

The population our field serves carries additional exposure. Someone with a pending application has been waiting months for a decision and has every reason to answer a call claiming to be from SSA. Someone newly approved has just received a sum of money larger than anything in recent memory. Both are reachable by a caller who already knows a few true details.

Worth building into your practice:

• Teach the rules, not the examples. Specific scam scripts change constantly. Three rules hold: SSA does not threaten arrest or immediate loss of payments over the phone, SSA does not demand payment by gift card, wire transfer, prepaid card, or cryptocurrency, and SSA does not ask anyone to move money to a "safe" account. Anything that does one of those three is a scam, regardless of how convincing the caller sounds.
• Add "hang up and call back" as the default response. Nobody has to evaluate a call in real time. Hanging up and calling 1-800-772-1213 resolves it.
• Name the AI voice problem out loud. Recorded voices can now be convincing, including voices of people someone knows. Tell people this directly, because the instinct to trust a familiar voice is strong and the technology has outpaced most people's expectations.
• Help with account setup without taking over. Each person must create and verify their own my Social Security account. Sit with them while they do it. Do not collect or hold anyone's login credentials, and tell them no legitimate helper ever will.
• Watch for fee-charging "application helpers." Outside of properly appointed representatives operating under SSA's fee rules, anyone charging to file an application is a problem worth flagging.
• Know the reporting route. Suspected Social Security scams are reported to the Office of the Inspector General at oig.ssa.gov. The announcement itself does not list this, so include it when you share the information.

A scam that succeeds does not just cost money. It can cost a person their identity documents, their payment stability, and their willingness to engage with the systems that were finally working for them. Five minutes of prevention is worth considerably more.

Sources: Scam Awareness Resources For Your Community