The calls come with your name, sometimes with part of your Social Security number, and often with a number on the caller ID that looks exactly like the agency’s own. This guide covers the scripts criminals are using right now, the ways the real Social Security Administration will and will not contact you, and the first hour after a mistake, which matters more than anything else you can do.
Most scam warnings tell you to “be careful.” That advice fails at the exact moment it is needed, because a convincing caller does not feel like a scam. The person on the line sounds calm, official and a little concerned for you. They know a detail or two. They say a word like “fraud” or “investigation” and your stomach drops.
So instead of generic warnings, we built this around the specific moments retirees tell investigators about: the “suspended” number, the statement email, the cost-of-living increase, the bank officer who wants you to move your savings, the courier at the door. For each, we explain what is really happening and what to do in the next ten minutes. Everything below was checked against the Social Security Administration, its Office of the Inspector General, the FTC, the FBI and the Department of Justice.
Key Answers If You Only Have a Minute
No. A threat to suspend your number or account is on the agency’s own list of scam tactics. Nothing you can do, or fail to do, on a phone call will cause your number to be “deactivated,” so there is nothing to pay or confirm.
The agency can contact people by phone about real business, especially when you have a request open. But a real problem with your record usually arrives as a letter. Treat any unexpected call that frightens, rushes or asks for money as fake, and call back on a number you find yourself.
Emails saying your Social Security statement is ready to download. The agency’s Inspector General warned of a surge in early 2026. Real messages come from addresses ending in .gov and never push a download link. Type ssa.gov/myaccount into your browser instead of clicking.
Four things, per the agency: the sender pretends to be someone you trust, announces a problem or a prize, pressures you to act now, and tells you how to pay. If you spot even one, stop the conversation.
Gift cards, prepaid debit cards, wire transfers, cryptocurrency, cash sent in the mail or handed to a courier, and gold or silver. Real government agencies do not collect money this way. Neither do they ask you to “move your money to a safe account.”
Stop talking to the scammer and call your bank or card company within minutes, not days. Speed is the single biggest factor in whether any money can be pulled back. Then report it to the agency’s Inspector General, the FTC and, if money moved, the FBI.
Create your own my Social Security account before a criminal does it for you. The agency says opening one prevents identity thieves from setting one up in your name, and it alerts you if anyone tries to change your address or direct deposit.
Treasury stopped issuing most paper checks after September 30, 2025, and the agency urges remaining check recipients to move to direct deposit. But you make that change inside your own account, through your bank, or by calling the official number, never by giving details to a caller who contacted you.
No. The agency says plainly that criminal behavior is not the victim’s fault. These operations run like businesses, with rehearsed scripts and purchased personal data. Reporting quickly is what helps, and shame is what keeps people quiet.
Real Contact vs. Fake Contact, Channel by Channel
Criminals can fake a caller ID, a logo, a letterhead and even a government employee’s real name. They cannot fake the rules the agency follows. Those rules are the most reliable thing you have.
| Channel | What the real agency does | What gives a fake away | Your move |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phone call | May call about genuine business, such as a request you made. A real problem with your record typically comes by mail. | Threatens arrest, number suspension or bank seizure; transfers you to a “law enforcement agent”; shows the real agency number on caller ID | Hang up. Look up the number yourself and call back. |
| Sends from addresses ending in .gov and does not push unsolicited attachments or download links | “Your statement is ready” with a link or file; sender address that does not end in .gov | Do not click. Type ssa.gov/myaccount and delete the email. | |
| Text message | Does not ask for sensitive personal information by text | A link to “verify” an account, “activate” a cost-of-living increase, or claim a refund | Do not tap. Report it, then delete. |
| Letter | If you owe money, mails a letter explaining payment options and your appeal rights | A mailed notice that demands gift cards, wires or cash, or that gives only a phone number to call | Check your my Social Security account or call the official number. |
| Social media | Keeps a short list of verified accounts on its website and never asks for personal data in messages | Few followers, spelling errors, links not ending in .gov, fees for documents that are normally free | Block and report. Do not reply to direct messages. |
| In person | You visit an office or keep an appointment you arranged | Someone arrives, or sends a courier, to collect cash, gold bars or other assets | Hand over nothing. Call local police. |
| Website | Uses .gov addresses with a secure connection | Look-alike addresses and paid “services” for forms the agency provides free | Type the address yourself rather than clicking a link. |
In our review of the agency’s current scam page and the Inspector General’s alerts, one point repeats so often that it is worth stating on its own: a caller knowing something about you proves nothing. Scammers assemble names, addresses and partial numbers from earlier data breaches, so a message that quotes your last four digits sounds like it comes from someone with access to your file. It comes from someone with access to a stolen spreadsheet.
The FTC has warned about this for years: criminals can make the real agency number appear on your screen even though the call comes from somewhere else. The agency’s own scam page adds that scammers also spoof local police department numbers. Caller ID is a label the caller writes, not a fact. The only safe test is to end the call and dial a number you looked up yourself.
Inside the Scam: How These Calls Are Built
The details change with every wave, but the structure does not. Learn the structure once and you can spot a script you have never heard before.
When we mapped the agency’s list of fifteen common tactics onto these five stages, we found that every one of them fits somewhere, which is why learning the stages protects you better than memorizing individual scripts. Notice that stage five is the one scammers need most and victims notice least. A criminal on the phone cannot let you talk to your bank, your daughter or your neighbor, because any of them would end the call in thirty seconds. So the script includes an instruction to keep quiet, usually dressed up as protecting an investigation. The agency lists demanding secrecy among its warning signs. A real investigator will welcome your questions.
The oldest script and still the most common. A recorded voice or a caller says your number is linked to a crime and will be suspended unless you “verify” it. Pressing a key connects you to an “officer.” The agency states that threatening to suspend your number or account is a scam tactic, full stop. The criminal wants you to read out your number, or to pay a fee to “clear” it.
The agency’s Inspector General warned in February 2026 of a significant increase in imposter emails claiming to give access to your statement. They borrow the agency’s logo, colors and wording. A click can install malicious software or send you to fake websites built to steal personal and financial information. The Inspector General’s advice fits on a card: type, don’t tap. Real messages come from addresses ending in .gov, and you reach your account by typing ssa.gov/myaccount yourself.
Each October the agency announces the next cost-of-living adjustment, and criminals time their messages to it. The 2026 increase was 2.8%. The next announcement is due in mid-October. The agency lists “needing personal information or payment to activate a cost-of-living adjustment or other benefit increase” as a scam tactic. The adjustment is applied automatically to your payment. You never have to ask for it, pay for it or confirm anything to receive it.
This is the script behind many of the largest losses. A caller claims to be from the agency, a bank’s fraud team or law enforcement and says criminals are about to drain your savings. To protect it, you are told to withdraw cash, buy gold, wire funds, or move money into a “protected” or government account. The Inspector General’s 2026 alert lists “offer to move your money to protect it” among the things the agency and its watchdog will never do. No legitimate agency asks you to transfer your savings to keep them safe.
The agency warns that scammers use the real names of employees and may send a photograph of a badge, a credential or a document as proof. This catches careful people, because they ask for proof and receive it. Treat unsolicited credentials as part of the scam, not as an answer to it. A genuine investigator does not need to send you a picture to be believed.
The agency’s list includes meeting you in person to pick up cash, gold bars or other assets. A courier or “agent” arrives at the door or at a nearby location after a phone call that left you convinced your money must be handed over. If anyone offers to collect money or valuables in person for a government matter, that is a crime in progress. Call local police, and do not let the call end until you have reached them.
Imposter profiles copy the agency’s images, colors and jargon. Telltale signs include a handful of followers, odd punctuation, links that do not end in .gov, and a charge for something that is normally free, such as a replacement Social Security card. The agency never asks for personal information through social media messages, so any direct message asking for it is fake.
Because most paper checks were phased out, callers pose as the agency and insist you must “update your direct deposit” over the phone. In the data we reviewed, the agency’s own statistics show about 99% of beneficiaries were already on direct deposit by mid-2025, which leaves a small group of check recipients that criminals can target with a plausible story. Make payment changes in your own my Social Security account, through your bank, or by calling the official number you dialed yourself. If anyone later tries to change your address or deposit details without you, the account sends an alert.
After a first scam, victims are often targeted again by people claiming they can recover the money, for an upfront fee, or by someone impersonating an FBI agent. Seniors reported about $540 million lost to recovery scams in the FBI’s latest annual report. If anyone contacts you out of the blue about your earlier loss, assume it is a second scam. Real recovery help comes from the agencies listed at the end of this guide, and it is free.
The FBI reports that seniors filed more than 3,100 complaints involving artificial intelligence in a recent year, with losses above $352 million. That works out to roughly $113,000 per complaint, almost three times the average senior loss in the same report. Criminals can clone a voice from short audio clips and phone a grandparent claiming to be in jail or in an accident. Agree on a family code word now, and if a “relative” calls in distress, hang up and call them back on the number you already have.
Where the Money Actually Goes
Social Security impersonation is one door into a much larger set of crimes against older Americans. The numbers show how the problem has changed.
The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center received 1,008,597 complaints in 2025 with reported losses near $20.9 billion. Americans 60 and older filed 201,266 of them, which is about one in five complaints, but they reported $7.7 billion in losses. When we ran the division ourselves, that is roughly 37% of all reported dollars lost from about 20% of complainants, and an average of about $38,500 per complaint. Older adults file fewer complaints per capita than younger people, according to the FTC, but their individual losses are far larger.
Two patterns matter for anyone worried about Social Security scams specifically. First, the FTC says imposter scams are the most commonly reported fraud, accounting for nearly one in three reports, with about $3.5 billion in reported losses in 2025. Of that, roughly $920 million came from government impersonators. That means about a quarter of all imposter losses involved someone pretending to be a government agency.
Second, the payment method is shifting. The FBI says scammers increasingly send older victims to physical cryptocurrency kiosks, where cash becomes digital currency that moves overseas in minutes. Reported incidents involving victims 60 and older at kiosks numbered 6,188, with $257.5 million in losses, which is about $41,600 per incident and a 58% jump in losses from the year before. Crypto is the preferred payment because it cannot be recalled like a card charge and, once converted, is difficult to trace.
Many victims lose money to a scam that never mentions Social Security at all. A fake agency call establishes fear and trust, and the same crew then hands you off to a “bank investigator,” a “crypto specialist” or an “investment adviser” who takes the money. The Social Security part is the hook; the investment, tech support or romance part is where the large losses happen. So even if you do not receive a call that mentions the agency, the same defenses apply.
Which payment requests mean “scam,” compared side by side
| Request | Would the real agency ask? | Why scammers love it | Can it be reversed? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gift cards or prepaid cards | Never | Instant, anonymous, cashed out within minutes | Rarely; call the card company at once |
| Wire or bank-to-bank transfer | Never | Fast and moves between countries | Sometimes, if your bank is told immediately |
| Cryptocurrency, including kiosk deposits | Never | Hard to trace; settles in minutes | Rarely; report to the FBI immediately |
| Cash by mail or courier | Never | Leaves no bank record | Almost never |
| Gold or silver | Never | Portable, high value, hard to trace | Almost never |
| “Move your money to a safe account” | Never | Hands the scammer your savings directly | Depends how fast you act |
| Your full Social Security number on a call you did not start | Not on an unsolicited contact | Fuels identity theft and account takeover | Not reversible; freeze your credit |
| A mailed payment option after a real notice | Yes, in a letter you can verify | Not applicable | Confirm through your own account first |
Pick the Situation That Sounds Like Yours
What you should do depends on how far the conversation went. Find your situation below. The steps are ordered, and the first one is always the most important.
Do these in order, starting right now. First, stop all contact with the person; do not take their next call, even if they say the matter is not finished. Second, call your bank or card issuer immediately and say the words “this was a scam and I need to stop or recall a payment.” Bank staff handle fraud calls every day, and the first hour decides what can be pulled back. Third, if the money went by wire, crypto kiosk or gift card, tell the bank or card company exactly how it was sent and give them any account numbers or card codes you still have.
We put the bank call before the agency reports on purpose: in our read of the Inspector General’s victim guidance, every report is useful, but only the bank can still stop a payment in motion. Then report. Tell the Social Security Inspector General, file at ReportFraud.ftc.gov, and report to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov. The FBI says its Recovery Asset Team froze about $32.9 million of the roughly $65.4 million reported in elder-fraud cases that came through its fast-response process last year, which is about half. That outcome depends on reporting quickly. Finally, call your local police and ask for a report number, since your bank may ask for it.
Do not panic, but do move quickly. Close the page and do not enter anything further. If you typed a password, change it right away on the real site, and change it anywhere else you reuse it. Run your device’s security scan or have someone you trust check it, since the link may have installed malicious software. Watch your bank and credit card statements closely over the next few weeks.
The Inspector General’s guidance for people who clicked or entered information is to stop all communication, contact your financial institutions, and report to the Inspector General, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center and the FTC. Add a fraud alert or a credit freeze at the three credit bureaus, and then sign in to your real my Social Security account by typing the address yourself, to see whether anything looks unfamiliar.
Your next step is identity protection. The agency recommends creating or checking your own my Social Security account, because opening it prevents a thief from creating one in your name, and the account alerts you if someone tries to change your address or direct deposit. Place a fraud alert with the three credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, and consider a credit freeze, which blocks new accounts from being opened with your information. File a report at IdentityTheft.gov to get a personalized recovery plan and an official record. If bank details were shared, tell the bank and ask it to watch or replace the account.
Also consider the IRS Identity Protection PIN, a voluntary extra step that helps stop someone filing a tax return in your name.
One quiet version of this crime is not a call at all. A criminal who has enough of your personal information tries to redirect your benefit by changing your direct deposit details. The agency says that if anyone tries to alter your address or deposit information without your permission, your my Social Security account will notify you at once, which is a strong reason to have the account in your own name. If a payment is missing or details look wrong, contact the agency using its official number and sign in to your account to check what is on file. Tell your bank, and report the incident to the Inspector General.
Look up the number yourself rather than calling the one that reached you. The agency’s national line is 800-772-1213, and the agency’s website is ssa.gov. For account help, type ssa.gov/myaccount into your browser. When you need to confirm that a call or letter was genuine, sign in to your account to see messages and notices, or call and ask. If a representative cannot confirm the contact, treat it as fake.
Medicare’s annual enrollment runs October 15 through December 7, and criminals ramp up well before it begins. Recent local reporting found some beneficiaries getting calls several times a day, with offers of “free benefits,” warnings of incomplete benefit information, or a new, upgraded or plastic Medicare card. The key point from AARP’s Fraud Watch Network: Medicare will not call, text or email to confirm your Medicare number, because Medicare already has it. A call asking for your Medicare card number is a reason to hang up. Report suspicious calls to 1-800-MEDICARE.
Start with the tone. Open with “these people are professionals and they fool lawyers and doctors too,” not “how could you.” Shame is the scammer’s best ally, since it keeps people from telling anyone, which is how a first loss becomes a second one. Ask exactly what was said and sent, and help them take the steps in this guide together. Offer to review unfamiliar calls and emails with them, and set up a family code word for emergencies.
The National Elder Fraud Hotline is run by the Department of Justice for fraud involving anyone 60 or older, and the Eldercare Locator can connect you with local services, including Adult Protective Services. If the person has memory loss or you suspect someone close to them is taking their money, those agencies can help.
Hang up. If you have already been scammed once, you are on lists criminals buy and sell. The follow-up caller may say they are from the FBI, a government recovery office or a law firm, and ask for a fee, your bank details or remote access to your computer. Reported senior losses to recovery scams reached about $540 million in the FBI’s latest report. Real help does not charge upfront, and the agencies in the next sections will not call you out of the blue to ask for money.
Repeat calls usually mean your number is on a list as someone who answered. Do not engage, even to tell them off, because a response confirms the line is active. Block the number on your phone, ask your carrier about call-filtering tools, and keep a short log of the numbers and what was said, since the details help investigators. If the calls turn threatening, or someone shows up in person, call the police.
Lock It Down Before the Next Call
Defense works better than reaction. These steps take an afternoon, and most can be done with a trusted family member beside you.
If you take only one action from this guide, take this one. Of the protective steps we compared, it is the quickest and the only one that costs nothing and also warns you about attempts to redirect your benefit. The agency says creating your account helps secure your personal information and prevents identity thieves from opening one in your name, and that you will get an alert if anyone tries to change your address or direct deposit without your permission. Always reach it by typing ssa.gov/myaccount, never through a link in a message. Use a strong password you do not reuse and any extra sign-in protection offered.
A credit freeze stops anyone from opening new credit in your name and is free. You place it separately with Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, and you can lift it temporarily when you apply for something yourself. For anyone whose number may have been exposed, a freeze is the strongest single protection against new-account fraud. A fraud alert is a lighter option that asks lenders to verify your identity.
Ask your bank and any brokerage whether you can name a trusted contact, a person they may call if they notice unusual activity. Turn on account alerts for large withdrawals and new payees. Many banks are trained to question a customer who suddenly wants cash or a wire. If a teller asks gentle questions, answer honestly, since that conversation has stopped many scams.
Let unknown numbers go to voicemail, and treat voicemail that threatens or rushes you as a warning sign. Use the call-blocking tools your phone and carrier offer. Register your number with the national Do Not Call list, though criminals ignore it, which is why the best filter is a rule: you do not discuss money, benefits or personal details on a call you did not start.
Pick a code word that only your family knows, to be used if someone calls in an emergency. Choose one person you will phone before ever moving money for any reason. And agree on this sentence together: “If anyone tells me not to tell you, that is how I will know it is a scam.”
Questions Nobody Asks Until After It Happens
Because personal data from earlier breaches is sold in bulk. Names, addresses, phone numbers and fragments of Social Security numbers circulate widely. A caller reading them back to you is performing a trick, and it works because it makes the call feel like it comes from a source with your file. The agency’s own advice is to be cautious of any contact about a problem you do not recognize, even if the caller has some of your personal information.
Sometimes, but it depends on how fast you act and how you paid. Card and bank transfers have the best odds if reported within hours. Gift cards, crypto and cash rarely come back. The FBI’s quick-response team froze about half the dollars in the elder-fraud cases it handled last year, which is a reminder that speed pays. Whatever the outcome, reporting also helps investigators find the people behind the scam.
No. Reporting a scam that targeted you is not a reason for the agency to reduce or suspend benefits. The agency says reports provide powerful data it uses to inform others, identify trends and take legal action against the criminals. Victims are people to help, not people to penalize.
It works. Phone systems let a caller choose what appears as the number, so the criminal types in the agency’s real line. Your phone shows what the caller entered, not where the call originated. That is why the rule is to end the call and dial yourself.
Do not take it personally. Repeat victimization is common because lists of people who engaged are shared among criminals. Take it as a signal to put the protections in this guide in place now: your own account, a credit freeze, a trusted contact at your bank, and a standing rule that money talk only happens on calls you start.
Who to Call and What Each One Does
Save these in your phone today, under names you will recognize. A list you set up during a calm afternoon is far easier to use than one you search for in a panic.
| Who | Use it for | How to reach them | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| SSA Office of the Inspector General | Reporting Social Security scams and imposters | oig.ssa.gov/report · 1-800-269-0271 | Report even if you lost nothing; reports reveal trends |
| Social Security Administration | Checking your record, payments or a letter you received | 800-772-1213 · ssa.gov/myaccount | Dial it yourself; never use a number from a message |
| Federal Trade Commission | Reporting any scam and getting a recovery plan | ReportFraud.ftc.gov · 877-382-4357 | Interpreter available; IdentityTheft.gov for identity theft |
| FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center | Online or crypto fraud, especially when money has moved | ic3.gov | Report quickly; speed affects whether funds can be frozen |
| National Elder Fraud Hotline | Help and referrals when the victim is 60 or older | 833-372-8311 | Run by the Department of Justice; weekdays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern |
| Eldercare Locator | Local services, including Adult Protective Services | 800-677-1116 | Useful when a family member or caregiver may be involved |
| Medicare | Suspicious Medicare calls or card requests | 1-800-633-4227 | Medicare does not call to confirm your number |
| Your bank or card issuer | Stopping or recalling a payment | Number on your card or statement | Call first, within minutes if you can |
Statistics are reported complaints and losses to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center and the Federal Trade Commission, which understate total losses because many victims never report. Percentages and per-complaint averages labeled as our own are calculations from those published totals. Agency practices, phone numbers and hours can change, so confirm contact details on the official websites before relying on them. The next cost-of-living adjustment is announced by the Social Security Administration each October.
This page is independent educational information, not legal, financial or law-enforcement advice, and it is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Social Security Administration, its Office of the Inspector General, Medicare, the FTC, the FBI or any other agency named. If you believe a crime is in progress, call 911 or your local police.
Key sources: Social Security Administration scam guidance (ssa.gov/scam) · SSA Office of the Inspector General scam alerts · FTC Consumer Sentinel and imposter-scam data · FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center annual report · Department of Justice Elder Justice Initiative · Medicare.gov and AARP Fraud Watch Network · U.S. Treasury paper-check phase-out