SSA Inspector General Warns Public About Caller ID 'Spoofing' of Social Security Fraud Hotline Phone Number

The Inspector General of Social Security, Gail S. Ennis, is warning citizens about a caller-ID 'spoofing' scheme misusing the Social Security Administration (SSA) Office of the Inspector General's (OIG) Fraud Hotline phone number. The OIG has received recent reports of phone calls displaying the Fraud Hotline number on a caller-ID screen. According to Ms. Ennis, this is a scam; OIG employees do not place outgoing calls from the Fraud Hotline 800 number. Citizens should not engage with these calls or provide personal information.

SSA and OIG employees do contact citizens by telephone for official purposes, and they may request the citizen confirm personal information over the phone. However, the calls do not appear on caller ID as the Fraud Hotline number of (800) 269-0271. Also, SSA and OIG employees will never threaten you for information or promise any type of official action in exchange for personal information or payment.  In those cases, the call is fraudulent, and you should just hang up.

If someone receives a suspicious call from someone alleging to be from SSA or OIG, he/she should report that information to the OIG online at https://oig.ssa.gov/report or by calling (800) 269-0271, Monday through Friday, 10:00 AM.to 4:00 PM Eastern Time. One can also report these scams to the Federal Trade Commission through a new site specific to Social Security scams:  https://identitytheft.gov/ssa