Thursday, April 4, 2019

SCAM ALERT: Phishing for Social Security Numbers

Hi All

Below is an example of a pretty garden variety phishing scam. As always, avoid clicking on links as described here.

Guest post from anonymous poster:
If you haven’t heard already, there’s a scam going around. The better partof my day has been spent contacting credit bureaus, financial institutions, Social Security and the FTC.

This morning I received a call on my cell phone from Maryland, 240 846 8836. I answered and it was a robo call telling me fraudulent activity had been reported with my Social Security number and to call immediately. I did and a man with a heavy Pakistani accent told me fraudulent activity had been reported and that legal enforcement was taking place. He asked me to give him my social security number and birth date so that he could tell me about the activity and unfortunately I did.

The caller gave me his name of Officer Joshua Brown (a very generic, Anglo name for someone with a heavy Pakistani accent) and an employee ID number and case ID and warrant number for me. He said that there were legal charges against my name for suspected activity in Texas near the border in
El Paso. He said the FBI had been alerted and something about a car in which drugs had been found. It sounded like a scam to me and I said I would call back later to receive the full information because I had a bus to catch. He said if I didn't call by tomorrow  that local law enforcement
would become involved. This was frightening and felt personally threatening.

I changed my plans and returned home to speak with (staff in my community) I asked what I should do if people arrived to my door insisting that I come away with them, and one said I could call dispatch (911) and ask them to verify that they had sent officers to the building. He said that (genuine) officers would be very understanding. If officers had not been dispatched, I could ask that they be dispatched at once as people impersonating officers were attempting to search my home,
issue a subpoena, or arrest me with or without a warrant.

I then took precautions associated with identity theft. I filed a report over the phone with the Social Security fraud hotline and on-line with the Federal Trade Commission; requested fraud alerts and credit freezes to be placed with all 3 credit companies; contacted my financial institutions; and will attempt to file my taxes this evening so that no one can file a fraudulent tax return in my name.

I finally got through to Social Security’s main number this afternoon, and
the representative described the exact series of details of the scam I had
experienced. She said that it has been going around and had even been on
the news. It still left me scared for my safety. As a woman I have to be
aware of the possibility of abduction, rape and even murder. If someone
comes to my door I won’t open it and will call 911. The caller did not ask
for my address. My building has a close relationship with our local law
enforcement officer, and I emailed him about what occurred as well.

Just a word to the wise. What a way to play on national fears generated
about immigration.


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