The Social Security Administration in Association with the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) National Consumer Protection Week, want to remind everyone that scammers are now targeting Americans more frequently with phone scams (voice phishing or vishing). The agency released a press release and an advisory on US CISA. March 5th will be known as "Slam The Scam Day". In January 9th of this year, the Social Security Administration also warned scammers were using faked documents sent by email and by postal mail.
It is easy for scammers to spoof (fake) telephone numbers by using VOIP (voice over internet service providers) to fake the origin of the call and make the call looks more genuine. These scams are known as (government imposter scams). Scammers use social engineering tradecraft to gain your trust over the phone and then con unwary victims out of money or information.
They use a variety of social engineering techniques that could include asking you to buy gift cards, giving up your personal information or threatening you to do something irregular. Some of the red flags are urgency, asking you to do something unexpected or unusual. Remember, scammers are smart and are always improvising and improving their social engineering techniques and skills. The "Slam the Scam Day" is meant to help you build your awareness of how these government agencies communicate and to recognize red flags.
According to the Inspector General of the Social Security Administration, "these pervasive scams—in which callers pretend to be government employees to mislead victims into providing personal information or making payments—have become a scourge on the American public. The Federal Trade Commission recently reported victims lost nearly $153 million to government imposter scams last year. Social Security-related scams in particular have skyrocketed over the past year to become the #1 type of consumer fraud reported to the Federal Trade Commission and the Social Security Administration."
Help celebrate "Slam the Scam Day" by attending the event and webinar below and raise your awareness so you can recognize the social engineering red flags!
Full announcement, registration and events here:
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