Social Security’s Office of the Inspector General Releases Scam Report to Congress

Social Security’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) recently released its quarterly Scam Report to Congress. The report provides information about scam trends in the second quarter of Fiscal Year 2024 (January 1 — March 31, 2024).

“As public servants, we must use every tool at our disposal to raise awareness and protect the American people against Social Security imposter scams,” Commissioner Martin O’Malley said earlier this year when announcing the 5^th annual “Slam the Scam” Day.

Our 2024 anti-scam strategy expands education and outreach efforts to underserved and tribal communities.

Scam reports to OIG have significantly declined in the past few years. However, OIG continues to receive complaints about scammers impersonating Social Security and OIG employees via phone calls, texts, emails, social media, and U.S. mail.

Government imposters try to steal money or personal information from potential victims by contacting them about fake Social-Security related problems.

OIG received about 27,000 scam allegations in the second quarter:

About 45% of reported cases claimed there was a problem with a person’s Social Security number.
Nearly 17% of cases mentioned a problem with Social Security benefits.
One-third of scams used official-looking documents or images (such as the Social Security logo).

Scammers target people of all ages. More people 50 and older lost money to government imposter scams than those under 50, according to the report. Older adults ages 70 to 84 reported the largest payments to imposters — an average loss of $10,562.

What You Can Do

To learn how to protect yourself and your loved ones, visit our Protect Yourself from Scams page. If you receive a suspicious call, text, email, social media message, or letter from someone claiming to be from Social Security:

Remain calm. If you have a strong emotional response to the communication, take a deep breath. Talk to someone you trust.
Hang up or ignore the message. Do not click on links or attachments.
Protect your money. Scammers often insist they can resolve a Social Security-related problem if you pay them with a gift card, prepaid debit card, cryptocurrency, wire transfer, money transfer, or cash. These forms of payment are hard to trace.
Safeguard your sensitive information. Don’t provide personal information to someone who contacts you claiming to be from a government or law enforcement agency, even if they know some details about you. If we need to reach you, we will mail you a letter.
Report the scam. Use our online form to report the scam to OIG.
Spread the word. Share your knowledge about scams and how to avoid them. Especially in underserved and tribal communities, which may not have outreach programs, you can be the link to help protect others from becoming victims.

Please share this message on social media, with friends, family, and local organizations.