A robocall purporting to be from the Social Security Administration has been targeting some Upper West Siders in recent days, according to the NYPD and one of the people who got the scam call.
One version of the call says that the person’s social security number will be “suspended” because “we have received suspicious trails of information in your name,” according to an NYPD recording posted by the 20th precinct on Twitter.
“If I don’t hear a call from you we will have to issue an arrest warrant under your name,” the call goes on, asking people to make sure to tell them the last four digits of their social security numbers.
Here in the 20th Precinct, we have had two victims of similar scams in recent weeks… please pass this on. pic.twitter.com/YZsR5nFVhE
— NYPD 20th Precinct (@NYPD20Pct) March 20, 2019
One West Side Rag reader tells us that she received three such calls in one day, all from 1-800 numbers. “I never answered. I called SSA but there was a 40 minute wait time. I passed.”
I have to unplug my phone or silence it every evening. I get around five or six scam calls a day. I no longer answer any calls from numbers I don’t recognize.
Same here, Mary. If the number’s not in my Contact list or I don’t recognize it, I decline the call.
If it’s important or someone I know, they’ll leave a message.
Social Security, the IRS, Medicare, other government agencies – don’t initiate contact with phone calls; a letter, on letterhead, with logo and an address in the US, with no misspellings or weird grammatical structure, comes first.
And NEVER give your Social Security Number to ANYONE over the phone unless you initiate the call or you know the caller.
Time to let go of the landline America. Your government isn’t going to protect you from this abuse.
As part of my package, Verizon Fios charges me $20 a month for a landline I don’t use. I don’t even have a landline phone
Went to Fios to get away from Spectrum, but it’s like sweeping out one devil and have seven come in to replace it
On cell phones too btw
Hi Mary,
I don’t know what your cable situation at your home is but I have ‘spectrum home phone’ for my hard line and they have a great system where you can block “all” calls and only allowed certain numbers to reach you. I also have the voicemail for the people who are authorized to call me to leave a message.
Same goes with my iPhone X.
I BLOCK everybody I don’t want to talk to !!!!!
I never get disturbed anymore, it’s like a vacation!!!
I Wish we had this technology 50 years ago.
It’s really amazing how many people actually fall for this and the other similar scams. There are actually $$$$ millions of dollars a year of older and naïve people who are falling victims to these type of scams. That’s why the family should be looking out for their mom and dad making sure they don’t fall for these type of ridiculous scams. So sad…
Everyone out there should know that the federal government i.e. IRS or SS will NEVER call you. All correspondence is done via the postal service!
Unless I know exactly who is calling, I never, EVER answer ANY phone call. Have an answering machine and never, ever does anyone leave any message (if it was a legit call, someone WOULD leave a message, maybe once a year I get one of those).
We received the same multiple calls and called the state attorney general’s office to report them. I’m not sure there is anything one can do but ignore them, inform friends and neighbors and know SSA NEVER calls you at home.
“24th Precinct. What’s your emergency?”
Problem solved.
This is why you need to build relationships of trust with the elderly members of your family. It’s hard to imagine grown adults being so stupid as to fall for this, but unfortunately cognitive decline does come to most of us sooner or later. You want your aunt to call you for help rather than “try to deal with it herself.”
It’s wrong to assume that only older people who are experiencing cognitive decline get conned though phone scams or in other ways. Yes, people with cognitive decline are especially vulnerable. But lots of people of all ages get conned.
Watch out for phony “Microsoft” calls saying your computer has a dangerous virus and they are ready to fix it for you. Letting these scam artists into your computer is really dangerous. It happened to a student of mine.
Received four calls and voicemails on my mobile phone today, all starting with 866-404- and then a different suffix each time. Reported it to FTC.gov/complaint.
For me its mainly been Chinese scam calls. Ugh. I dont pick up unless I recognize the number. But I did have fun with a SSN scam, which was clearly being run from India. I got the guy so mad, he started cursing me out.
I received this same call on my cell this past Tuesday. It went to voicemail, the voicemail was slightly cut off but the part I did head made me a little worried because it said it would “take action soon” if I didn’t call back to discuss. I called the number back from another line and knew it was suspicious immediately when someone picked up so I hung up right away, then I filed an online report through the SSA website.
I get a lot of scam calls on my cell phone. Getting rid of your landline isn’t the answer. They get you on your cell. I get the Chinese scam calls every day. I no longer answer if I don’t recognize the number. I also got a call from Chase bank asking for account information because of a possible fraudulent charge. I refused to speak to them and hung up. I called the number on the back of my credit card and found out they had not called. Make sure you know who it is. Call them back, but not any phone number they give you. Call the number on your card or from a statement.
I received the same call and just hung up….I know if there is a problem you will get a notice by mail…never on the phone….don”t give anyone your personal information….
I got this call on my cell phone a couple of weeks ago.
Me too. Called over 10 times. I don’t want to be crude but you must be stupid if you respond. SS never calls! Only standard mail
I have Verizon and I added “nomorobo” to my landline which can been a true blessing. It blocks these calls. It’s free on landlines but costs on cell phones.
Hang up on them. I got several calls like that. They were Robo calls. I never respond to any Robo calls. I laughed and laughed when they got to the part of threatening to arrest me. That silliness was a dead