According to officials, a rise in the number of internet frauds attempting to defraud people of their pension money has been brought on by this year’s Social Security benefit hike.
In 2023, Social Security benefits increased by an astounding 8.7 percent, the highest cost-of-living adjustment in 40 years.
SSA Warned Scammers
SSA issued a warning that con artists are utilizing this increase in benefits.
During the fourth annual ‘Slam the Scam’ Day, which was held in March, the SSA and its Office of the Inspector General (OIG) continued to educate the public about the benefits of imposter scams.
A common government imposter fraud technique is scams, in which con artists coerce victims into paying money or gift cards to remedy purported problems with their SS numbers or to avoid arrest.
One of the most frequent government impostor scams reported to the Federal Trade Commission for a number of years has been your benefits impersonation fraud.
Through extensive outreach and investigative efforts, we have made concerted efforts to address this issue.
Due to these efforts, there was a 30% decrease from 2021 to 2022 in the amount of money reported as having been lost to SS frauds.
Read more: Here’s What You Need To Know About Your Social Security Checks In May Of 2023
FBI Saw Evidence That Social Security Scammers Are Changing Characters
The current SSA scams that are going on throughout the country, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), are evidence that con artists are always changing.
People who are taken in by these scams risk losing all of their money.
The fact that older individuals in their 70s and 80s lack the ability to make that up, so you have effectively rendered someone destitute for the rest of their lives, is what enrages Monaco, according to him.
Theodorou advised people not to be scared into handing over their hard-earned money by con artists. Never forget to double-check anything.
Don’t divulge any information if you can’t verify the website’s or the email’s validity.
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