ANOTHER TELEPHONE SCAM

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Anyone who has a telephone or cellphone will at some time or another get a phone call from a scammer that wants to trick you into giving them personal information. I get these calls every once in a while.

On the 13^th of December of this year, I received such a call. The caller told me that he was calling from Service Canada which is an official department of the Canadian government. The scammer’s phone number was 1-226-212-7412. If you have read this article, tell a scumbag that calls you to go to hell.

The scumbag said that someone was using my Social Insurance number to get into Canada from the United States.

He then asked me to give him my Social Insurance number ( SIN )  so that they could confirm that the SIN  used is legitimate.

Right away I suspected that a scammer had called me because Service Canada doesn’t phone people unless they are returning phone calls.  Second, my Social Insurance Number  (SIN ) card is in my home vault and has been in my vault for years therefore it is highly unlikely that anyone would know what my SIN is since I don’t give it out to anyone who phones me.

The government told me that they are getting many calls from citizens about scammers who claim that they are calling from Service Canada and are seeking Social Insurance numbers. It is obviously a scam.

What’s scary is that an identity thief can use all of this information to do things that can greatly affect you. These include:

Opening new financial accounts, Applying for credit cards using your name, Accessing your medical information, Applying for a passport, Applying for a new Social Insurance card for the purpose of Stealing government benefits, Filing for tax refunds and Intercepting financial and government documents.

As virtually all seniors receive Social Security benefits, it’s unsurprising that a lot of scam artists make fraudulent phone calls and send emails, and letters to seniors which makes me wonder how they know who are seniors. The calls often involve scammers pretending to be from the Social Security Administration   ( SSA ) trying to get the senior’s  Social Security numbers.

The agency warns that callers sometimes using so-called “spoofing” techniques to make the actual Social Security hotline number (1-800-772-1213) appear on the recipient’s phone or caller ID screen. The caller may also identify themselves by the name of an actual SSA official, such as the agency’s inspector general, Gale Ennis.

The SSA describes the language used in these calls in recent years as “increasingly threatening.” The caller typically states that due to improper or illegal activity with the person’s Social Security number or account, he or she will be arrested or face other legal action if the person fails to call a provided phone number to discuss the issue. The scammer that called me didn’t make that threat, he simply asked for my SIN so he could confirm that the person trying to enter Canada from the USA was using my SIN. 

Now think about this. If the scammer knew what the SIN the person crossing the border was and the person that called me was calling from Service Canada, he wouldn’t have to call me to find out what my SIN was since he would already know what my SIN was.  

The manner of such calls is in itself an indicator that they are fraudulent. The SSA does contact some recipients by phone who are expecting the calls because they’re almost always people who have current discussions  with the agency and further,  an SSA employee will “never threaten” you for information by stating stating that you face potential arrest or other legal action if you fail to provide the information. This too is a sign that the call is fraudulent.

Another type of scammer attempts to sell to the recipient services the SSA readily provides at no charge. The caller might, for example, offer to provide a new Social Security Number card, enroll a new family member in the program, or provide a record of Social Security contributions to date, along with the expected future income the victims will  get from the government. 

Seniors may also be reeled in by so-called “phishing” emails designed to emulate messages from the SSA. The emails typically resemble actual agency communication, including duplicate mastheads and font styles. The messages may also direct readers to a fake page designed to look like one from the SSA website. These efforts invariably seek to obtain personal information from you, which you should never provide to anyone who asks you to provide that information. .

Always call SSA to confirm if they were the ones who sent you the messages.

The same clues of fraudulent intent as with the phone calls apply here. Both the SSA and the Office of the Inspector General say that legitimate emails from the agency never seek personal information and do not adopt an alarmist or threatening tone since the Social Security Administration will never use intimidating or threatening language in any form of communication when speaking to you.

While the rise of scams perpetrated electronically, and thus cheaply, has reduced Social Security fraud by mail, the practice has not entirely vanished. One such scheme is a direct mail scam that primarily targets senior citizens.

A letter comes in the mail offering an extra security check, along with a form asking for personal information and a filing fee. In it the scammer asks the recipient for a Social Security Number, money, and/or bank account information to help with the application.

This  is a red flag, because the Social Security Administration will never ask you for your Social Security Number, as it already knows it. In the event the administration does send you a letter—say, for instance, when your benefits increase—it will never ask you for money or any other personal information.

As with all scams, the most important way to avoid becoming a victim is to stay vigilant. If you receive any phone call asking for your Social Security Number or other personal information, it’s best to hang up immediately. You may also want to consider adding the caller’s phone number to a blocked-call list to help prevent repeated nuisance calls. Blocking the first number used no longer precludes receiving further calls from different identifying phone numbers The scammer can use another of their phones.

Incidentally, I own a home in the southern part of Florida.  It is located in the middle of the Floodplain Swamp. As to be expected, the home has no neighbours so if you like privacy, you will find it in the home if it hasn’t been washed away from the annual flooding.

Are you interested?