Suspicious activity on my SS account. Right!

[Time2]

I just got a call from a SS representative with an accent. She told me there was suspicious activity on my SS account. OH NO! All she wanted was my name, I made one up and the last 4 digits of my SS, I made that up to. She went to verify that. btw, I was doing the dishes, so I put it on speaker phone just to have fun. She came back and said because of the suspicious activity they were going to suspend my account. I said what kind of suspicious activity. Now, she's ready for the kill, she said, "in order to reveal that information I will need you full SS number." I said absolutely not. She said, OK let me check. When she came back she said this is Kate Williams and I will need to cancel your SS account. I started laughing, she said why do you laugh, I said because your name is not Kate Williams. She ask why not? I repeated your name is not Kate Williams. Yes it, no it's not. Then she said, "I'm going to cancel your account and hung up."
I called the number back I got a male, I said, "I just got a call from Kate Williams." He ask, "at this number?" I said "yes." he said, "Just a minute." He came back and told me to go have sex with myself and then said something in his native language. If you would like to talk to Kate Williams here's the number, hey it's even Washington D.C. 202-788-7606

 

[Out-to-Lunch]

I got that call the other day (and listened as it went to the answering machine). DW and I both broke out giggling when they said "suspend your SS account." Yeah, right!

 

[W2R]

I got an e-mail like that recently! Startling for a minute, until I regained my senses and deleted it.

 

[JustCurious]

If you would like to talk to Kate Williams here's the number, hey it's even Washington D.C. 202-788-7606

You probably know this but that was a spoofed number not in DC, "Kate Williams" is probably in India or Pakistan.

 

[foxfirev5]

Likewise we get these calls but don't play the game. Nothing to be gained and if you do they know they've got a live one. However I have been known to have some fun with the vacation/timeshare people.

 

[Koolau]

I'm even a bit skeptical when I receive "official" notices regarding anything governmental. Just got a letter the other day that showed a gummint check showing through the window of the envelope. DW tore it open, thinking we'd made a mistake on our taxes (our favor) entitling us to another refund. NOPE! It wasn't strictly a scam, but a sales pitch. I forget the company, but the point is you can't trust anything these days. YMMV

 

[Souschef]

We have been getting those calls, and also (in no particular order)
Auto warranty
credit card debt
new credit card
Your computer has a virus
Medicare signup

 

[Walt34]

We have been getting those calls, and also (in no particular order)
Auto warranty
credit card debt
new credit card
Your computer has a virus
Medicare signup

I feel neglected. We routinely get the above, but it's been several years since they accused my computer of spreading a virus. OTOH, it's good to know I'm not responsible for any pandemics.

 

[Car-Guy]

I got one like this a couple of months ago via a phone call. I remember that the caller ID didn't indicate the SSA or anything like it...(Flag #1) They gave me a phone number to call to get my account unfrozen but when I looked up the phone number, it didn't tie back to the SSA that I could see (Flag #2). I don't recall the details anymore but I remember the call actually sounded very creditable at the time... Anyway, I never called the number but I did log on to my SSA account and everything looked okay. I didn't see any new correspondence in the SS messaging system and my next payment still looked to be on schedule... My next scheduled payment came it as expected so at that point I just forgot about it.

 

[Dtail]

I get a lot of auto warranty calls, but nothing else. I do like having some fun with these calls, but mostly robocalls.

 

[Time2]

Likewise we get these calls but don't play the game. Nothing to be gained and if you do they know they've got a live one. However I have been known to have some fun with the vacation/timeshare people.

They might have thought they had a live one, but I wasn't going to stay on the hook to get reeled in. I kept many on the hook, some Microsoft going to fix my computer, "how did you know I was having a problem?" My computer was slow to reboot 3 times, or so he thought.

I've been known to just slide it in, in normal conversation,"does your mother now she raised an a$$hole. They aren't quite sure they heard correctly and are confused because everything just seemed to be going their way. I often have to repeat it. It's funny they are very clear with their cuss words.

Don't forget, these people are thieves they are out to steal money, from innocent people.

 

[rk911]

i played along with a caller claiming that my "Windows License" has expiried. i told him that we didn't own a computer. he apparently wasn't expecting that as he stammered a bit and then repeated the opening line. i told him that we had just moved into our house and "guessed" he was trying to reach the former occupants. i then siggested he give me his number and i would call them and have them call him. he hung up. i was bored that day.

 

[Chuckanut]

I get at least one call this time of year telling me I must get my furnace inspected ASAP. If I don’t, they will have to report me to city inspectors and that might result in a big fine!!!!!

I don’t have a furnace.

 

[Out-to-Lunch]

I get at least one call this time of year telling me I must get my furnace inspected ASAP. If I don’t, they will have to report me to city inspectors and that might result in a big fine!!!!!

I don’t have a furnace.

Well, heck! Now *I* have to report you to the city inspectors for NOT HAVING A FURNACE!

 

[easysurfer]

You folks are funny . I'd never be able to keep my face straight stringing the scammers along.

 

[Nick12]

I just got a call from a SS representative with an accent. She told me there was suspicious activity on my SS account. OH NO! All she wanted was my name, I made one up and the last 4 digits of my SS, I made that up to. She went to verify that. btw, I was doing the dishes, so I put it on speaker phone just to have fun. She came back and said because of the suspicious activity they were going to suspend my account. I said what kind of suspicious activity. Now, she's ready for the kill, she said, "in order to reveal that information I will need you full SS number." I said absolutely not. She said, OK let me check. When she came back she said this is Kate Williams and I will need to cancel your SS account. I started laughing, she said why do you laugh, I said because your name is not Kate Williams. She ask why not? I repeated your name is not Kate Williams. Yes it, no it's not. Then she said, "I'm going to cancel your account and hung up."
I called the number back I got a male, I said, "I just got a call from Kate Williams." He ask, "at this number?" I said "yes." he said, "Just a minute." He came back and told me to go have sex with myself and then said something in his native language. If you would like to talk to Kate Williams here's the number, hey it's even Washington D.C. 202-788-7606

That's too funny. I also did get a similar scam call. I talked to the rep with a foreign English accent. The more I questioned her, the more irritated she got and then she started cursing at me. One big scam is the Medicare commercial shown many times on TV. Curious I called the number. Its a third party group the "works " with Medicare. There is a sucker born every minute.

 

[Car-Guy]

Timely thread. Yesterday, I got the dreaded annual IRMAA letter in the mail from the SSA. On the back of the envelope it had the following notice:

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
"SCAM ALERT".

Scammers are pretending to be government employees. They may threaten you and may demand immediate payment to avoid arrest or other legal action. Do not be fooled!

If you receive a suspicious call:

1 Hang up!
2 Do not give them money or personal information!
3 Report the scam at OIG.SSA.GOV


-------------------------------------------------------------------------
This or similar notices may have been on the back of their "mailings" for years (I don't know) but I noticed it yesterday because of this thread.

 

[audreyh1]

Thanks for the link to report a scam pretending to be Fed government.

 

[Midpack]

We never answer numbers we don't recognize, it spares us all the nonsense. If it's someone who really needs to get a hold of us they will leave a message, and we'll call back if needed. Scammers almost never leave messages, and when they do it's pretty easy to recognize it's a scam.

Long ago before caller ID, we reported a few numbers, but the days of that having any effect are long gone. Scammers use so many numbers you'd never make a dent blocking just one...

 

[Sarah S]

Actually scammers do leave messages sometimes Someone ( likely Kate) just left me a vm last night about my social security account. Verizon filtered it so the phone never rang.

Another person left a message about my student loan being in default. Apparently I am in deep trouble on 2 fronts!

 

[audreyh1]

Yeah, an SS scammer left me a voicemail message about fraudulent activity on my SS account and that some legal action was about to commence.

 

[REWahoo]

We never answer numbers we don't recognize, it spares us all the nonsense. If it's someone who really needs to get a hold of us they will leave a message, and we'll call back if needed.

^ This.

 

[Green Papaya]

A long time ago, I was at work when I received a call from someone identifying themselves as calling from xyz bank in Florida. No accent. She said that the owner of a safe deposit box at their bank had recently passed away but left no heirs. They are in the process of clearing out the box contents when they found my name listed as a beneficiary. They wanted to verify if they had reached the right person by me telling them my mother's maiden name (alarm bell ringing!). I said I did not know anyone in Florida, but maybe my wife did. I asked for their phone number so I could call them back after talking to my wife. This was pre-internet time. I used a yellow phone book to find xyz bank, and the listed number was off by one digit from the caller's number. I never call back

 

[Midpack]

We never answer numbers we don't recognize, it spares us all the nonsense. If it's someone who really needs to get a hold of us they will leave a message, and we'll call back if needed. Scammers almost never leave messages, and when they do it's pretty easy to recognize it's a scam.

Long ago before caller ID, we reported a few numbers, but the days of that having any effect are long gone. Scammers use so many numbers you'd never make a dent blocking just one...

Actually scammers do leave messages sometimes Someone ( likely Kate) just left me a vm last night about my social security account. Verizon filtered it so the phone never rang.

Another person left a message about my student loan being in default. Apparently I am in deep trouble on 2 fronts!

 

[Scratchy]

I have done similar with these callers but now I don't because I think there's a possibility they could retaliate by super spamming my number, or worse. Wasn't some law passed recently to reduce these calls? I do seem to be getting fewer.