There has been so much publicity surrounding scams lately, especially now that AI has made them nearly undetectable, that many people are afraid of engaging in legitimate interactions with SSA. This can be a problem.
We don’t mean that people should let their guard down. Indeed, FTC datashowed that between 2020 and 2024 the number of impersonation scammers stealing tens and even hundreds of thousands of dollars from older adults increased fourfold. Some people lost their entire life savings by transferring money where they thought it would be “safe.”
Source:Federal Trade Commission
In one type of scam a person receives an imposter call, text, or email claiming to be from SSA or the Office of Inspector General (OIG), often spoofing real SSA phone numbers or using real employee names and logos. They say your Social Security benefits will end, or your Social Security number will be suspended, unless you pay immediately. They insist the only way you can fix the problem is to pay with gift cards, a wire transfer, cryptocurrency, or a payment app. They may even threaten that you’ll be arrested if you don’t pay.
The fraudsters create a sense of urgency and heightened emotion, which short-circuits logic and clear thinking. That’s why the standard advice when faced with such a situation is to take an active pause, to step back and assess the situation before taking any action.
Some scams start by trying to gather a victim’s personal information, such as birthdate, Social Security number, and address. These are the types of scams that create what I call a “scam backlash” because people are now afraid to reveal any of their personal information to anyone, even when it’s necessary to complete a legitimate transaction. This reluctance to enter personal data into SSA’s online portal or take a call from someone who claims to be from the Social Security Administration can interfere with a client’s ability to receive Social Security benefits. So while it’s always necessary for financial advisors to warn clients of potential scams, it’s also important to inform them of how and when it’s safe to enter data or take a call as part of the benefit application process.
Probably the best fraud-prevention activity is to open an account at SSA. The site is secure, and while the prospect of entering personal information and uploading documents may seem a bit scary, it must be done in order to establish the account. Once the account is established, clients do not need to worry about the security of their activity through the portal. They can download their statements, change banking information, and securely enter other personal data. (Note: You may have heard about a recent Washington Post story in which a whistleblower alleged that a former DOGE employee took Social Security data to his new job. If true, this data did not come from the individual Social Security accounts; it came from SSA’s master databases, “Numident” and the “Master Death File” which contain Social Security numbers, places and dates of birth, citizenship, race and ethnicity, and parents’ names. Clients need to remember that SSA already has all this information on each of us; by opening a Social Security account and uploading data and documents we are simply verifying to SSA that we are the person we claim to be.)
SSA mainly communicates by mail. They do sometimes initiate calls and emails, but these are usually for a specific purpose, such as to follow up on a benefit application. If a client has applied for benefits and receives a call from someone claiming to be from the Social Security Administration, it’s probably a legitimate follow-up call. The caller ID is not necessarily the best indication; sometimes representatives call from cellphones. Clients will be able to tell by the nature of the call. If the representative references the filing and acts in a businesslike manner, it’s probably safe to proceed. But if there’s any kind of pressure to send money, they should hang up. If clients want to verify that the call is legitimate, they can tell the caller that they are going to hang up and call SSA’s main line, (800) 772-1213, or the number of their local office (if they can access it online). SSA representatives do understand that people are skeptical about receiving calls from unknown numbers.
Sometimes scammers communicate by mail and email. It used to be easy to detect these fraudulent communications because they were poorly designed and filled with typos. Now that AI has cleaned up these fraudulent communications they are harder to detect. Just remember that SSA will not ask for money. If there has been an actual overpayment, leading to a legitimate request for repayment, SSA has its ways of collecting, such as by withholding future benefits. They certainly won’t ask for gift cards, wire transfers, cryptocurrency, payment apps, or cash by mail.
Credit: Horsesmouth April 2026 Social Security Newsletter