Law Enforcement warns of Social Security Scams

Law Enforcement Agencies continue to receive reports from citizens of Social Security scams.

The scams generally involve someone receiving a telephone call from a scammer who claims to be working with a federal agency.

The caller informs the victim that their personal identifying information, usually involving their Social Security number, has been compromised and has been connected with a crime out of state, most prominently in drug trafficking on the U.S. and Mexico border.

The victim is also told that due to this criminal activity, arrest warrants have been obtained against them.

In order to clear up the warrant, the victim is asked to go purchase prepaid or gift cards.

After purchasing the cards, the victims are told to supply the card number, by which the funds can be extracted from the cards.

In one of the scams, a citizen supplied the caller with the last four digits of their social security number, their birth date, and their address.

Law enforcement will not ask anyone to pay in order to have an arrest warrant recalled or the charges dropped.

Also, one of the easiest ways to recognize a scam is by someone requesting payment with a prepaid or a gift card.

A legitimate business, organization, or agency will not request payment using this method.

Also, do not provide any personal identifying information or your address if someone asks you for that information in any type of correspondence or a phone call if you did not solicit that contact personally.