By: Matt Sacco
Washington – Social security impersonation scams were the most common type of scams targeting American Seniors in 2019. The Senate Aging Committee’s annual Fraud Book for 2020 ranked this scam as the most common, just surpassing the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) impersonation scam which topped the list the previous year.
The IRS impersonation scam was the most common scam targeting older Americans for the past five years. Testifying before the committee, Andrew Saul, Commissioner of the Social Security Administration (SSA) attributed the decline in IRS scams to education and public awareness.
Saul said more work needs to be done still, “This is a national problem.”
Committee Chair Susan Collins (R-ME) , along with Ranking Member Bob Casey (D-PA) revealed at a hearing on Wednesday that Americans who fell victim to this particular Social Security scam lost $38 million dollars in just the last year.
A typical Social Security scam usually involves an individual impersonating somebody from the Social Security Administration (SSA), or a government official who claims your Social Security has been compromised. The caller then uses this false identity to intimidate and take the victim’s money, identity and personal information.
For less aware, older Americans, who may not be privy to these kinds of schemes, these scams can be anxiety inducing and embarrassing. Senator Collins said “Many seniors who have been affected by this scam are either too embarrassed to report their loss or don’t even know who to turn to. The emotional and psychological toll for those who have lost hard-earned life savings are beyond measure.”
Machel Anderson overcame these feelings to testify before the Senate Aging Committee to share her experience of how a team of fraudsters ran off with $154,000 of her savings after a caller claimed to be a member of the Social Security Administration and a subsequent DEA agent.
Within just a week, much of the Utah native’s savings were wiped away.
“This man told me that my family was in danger, that my social security number was being used by a very powerful drug cartel and that they would be watching my every move.”
Anderson attributed her falling for this scam by being intimidated of the consequences if she did not follow the scammers orders. The fraudster claimed that she would be arrested if she did not wire a lump sum of cash to an offshore account. The situation was so real for Machel that she never even thought twice about what she was doing.
When asked whether she thought at any point she was being scammed, Anderson said, “My friend did, he said, Machel are you sure you aren’t being scammed, and I said I’m sure I’m not, I’m not being scammed.”
Members of the committee, and the expert witnesses testifying agreed that education and public awareness is the right path forward to combat this problem.
Commissioner Andrew Saul’s administration has been working hard to raise awareness about this scam and the many others alike, through messaging in television, radio, and social media. Additionally, anyone who has fallen victim to, or received a call from these scammers can fill out a form on the agency’s website so the administration has a fuller record.
Members of the Senate Aging Committee have released their annual fraud book each year to help spread the word about these issues.
Senator Collins among other committee members and witnesses additionally agreed that public awareness and education need to be adaptive and responsive. Collins said, “If we can heighten public awareness we can prevent people from being victimized. But I don’t think we should underestimate the ruthlessness creativity and pressure tactics that are used by these criminals.”
While public awareness and education may mitigate the problem, it does not offer a very viable solution to fixing the overall problem. Each time the public becomes aware of a particular scam, another will eventually pop up.
Testifying alongside Commissioner Saul, SSA Inspector General Gail Ennis said, “No matter how many investigations we conduct or how many scammers we put out of business, there will always be more around the corner and they will devise new ways of scamming innocent victims.”
Ennis offered the idea of the federal government working directly with telecommunications companies to eliminate these spoofed calls. Most of these scams originate from outside the US, yet are still able to connect to American telecom servers and facilitate these scams. With federal intervention telephone companies you reduce a majority of these calls.
Committee Chair Collins gave some finishing remarks and said, “combating these scams is going to take a coordinated, all hands on deck effort and that is what we are committed to doing.”
Advanced Reporting Times, Spring 2020 