Ī credit lock and a credit freeze are both great ways to protect your credit, personal finances, and identity from fraudsters. Last year alone, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), received close to 700,000 reports of fraud related to new fraudulent bank accounts, credit cards, and loans. One of the easiest ways scammers can target your finances is by using your stolen information to open new accounts or take out lines of credit and loans in your name. Please visit our Resources page for more information on how you can help us “Slam the Scam”.What’s Better? A Credit Lock or a Credit Freeze? The Federal Trade Commission’s “What To Do if You Were Scammed” article has information about what to do if you paid someone you think is a scammer or gave a scammer your personal information or access to your computer or phone.

Notify the three major credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion to add a fraud alert to your credit report.

Do not talk to them or respond to their messages. Recovering from a scam can be a long and difficult process. When you report a scam, you are providing us with powerful data that we use to inform others, identify trends, refine strategies, and take legal action against the criminals behind these scam activities.

Report the scam to the Office of the Inspector General at /report.

Spread the word to protect your community from scammers.

Be cautious of any contact claiming to be from a government agency or law enforcement telling you about a problem you don’t recognize, even if the caller has some of your personal information. Scammers use these forms of payment because they are hard to trace. Scammers will insist that you pay with a gift card, prepaid debit card, cryptocurrency, wire transfer, money transfer, or by mailing cash. If you receive a communication that causes a strong emotional response, take a deep breath. Protect yourself, friends, and family - If you receive a suspicious call, text, email, social media message, or letter from someone claiming to be from Social Security: Federal law enforcement will never send photographs of credentials or badges to demand any kind of payment, and neither will federal government employees. It is illegal to reproduce federal employee credentials and federal law enforcement badges.

mail or attachments through email, text, or social media message. Send official-looking documents by U.S.“Spoof” official government phone numbers, or even numbers for local police departments.Use legitimate names of Office of Inspector General or Social Security Administration employees.If you receive a suspicious call, text message, email, letter, or message on social media, the caller or sender may not be who they say they are. Offer to move your money to a “protected” bank account.īe skeptical and look for red flags.Ask you to pay with gift cards, prepaid debit cards, wire transfers, cryptocurrency, or by mailing cash.Pressure you to take immediate action, including sharing personal information.

Claim to need personal information or payment to activate a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) or other benefit increase.Threaten you with arrest or legal action because you don’t agree to pay money immediately.These are red flags you can trust that Social Security will never We encourage you to stay up to date on the latest news and advisories by following SSA OIG on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook or subscribing to receive email alerts. Scammers frequently change their approach with new tactics and messages to trick people. Scammers tell you to pay in a specific way.Scammers pressure you to act immediately.Scammers say there is a problem or a prize.Scammers pretend to be from an agency or organization you know to gain your trust.Scams come in many varieties, but they all work the same way: Recognizing the signs of a scam gives you the power to ignore criminals and report the scam.

Equifax lock and alert