National Slam the Scam Day
We’ve got a lot of “Days” but have you heard of this one? National Slam the Scam Day, which was designated to be “celebrated” tomorrow, March 9, 2023.
So, what exactly is National Slam the Scam Day? Well, it is a day that we are all encouraged to take a little more time to pay attention to recognizing Social Security-related scams and to stop scammers from stealing your personal information and, perhaps, even your money!
What can you do?
- Pay close attention to emails and their attachments. While they may look to be credible, scammers pretend to be from an organization or agency that may be familiar to you.
- Usually scammers will mention a problem or a prize, telling you that your Social Security Number was involved in a crime or they ask you to confirm your SSN.
- Scammers pressure you to act IMMEDIATELY by perhaps threatening you with arrest or legal action.
- You are told that you must pay using a gift card, prepaid debit card, cryptocurrency, wire transfer of money or mail cash.
You are faced with such an encounter, so what do you do? First of all, report the contact to the Social Security Office of the Inspector General if the scammers are posing as representatives of Social Security. You can find more information at www.ssa.gov/scam.
Protect yourself and think twice about giving out your SSN or other personal information to a caller or in response to an email. Ask for a number for you to call them back when you have the information available. Chances are, the number you would be given is not a working number and will not be the same number that comes up on your caller ID. If you get an email that looks suspicious, call the proper organization on a verified number and ask if they were sending out emails such as the one you received.
Identity theft is too common and, unfortunately, we have to put forth the effort to protect our own identity and information. Be cautious when giving out your information. And, feel good about doing your part on National Slam the Scam Day.
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