Dawn Bystry, the Associate Commissioner, Office of Strategic and Digital Communications at the Social Security Administration, offers the below crime prevention tips:
Do you know how to spot fake Social Security social media
accounts? The tips below will help you protect yourself and your family.
How fraudsters create
imposter accounts
Fraudsters create
imposter social media pages and accounts using Social Security-related images
and jargon, making them appear as if they’re associated with or endorsed by us.
They also create imposter social media pages of Social Security and OIG officials,
such as the Commissioner or the Inspector General.
Protect your personally
identifiable information
We will never ask for sensitive
information through social media as these channels are not secure. Sometimes,
users are asked to enter their financial information, Social Security number
(SSN), or other sensitive information. This is a red flag, and often an
indication of a fraudulent account.
How to spot a fake social
media account
Identifying an
imposter account may seem difficult at first, but there are a few things you
can look for right away. You will want to focus on the following:
- How many people follow the imposter page. In most
cases, fake pages have a very low number of followers as compared to
Social Security’s official page.
- Improper punctuation.
- Links to pages not on SSA.gov.
- Advertisements for forms or other Social Security
documents.
- Incorrect social media handle. To view the list of
our official social media channels, we encourage you to visit our Social Media
webpage.
Please report
suspected Social Security imposter scams — and other Social Security fraud — to
the OIG’s website.
You can find more information about scams on our webpage, Protect Yourself from Scams.
Please share this information with your friends, family, and colleagues to help spread awareness about Social Security imposter scams.
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