Social security fraud, is there anything I can do?

I found this, hope it helps

https://www.tomsguide.com/us/what-to-do-ssn-stolen,news-18742.html

Get rid of the old Medicare card that has the SSN and give her the new version that doesn't have the SSN. If she doesn't have it, have her call Social Security and ask for a replacement.

contact the social security office and inform them. keep documents. tell mom not to be concerned that its an hoax. tell her to never give them information its a scam. tell her to always contact u every time someone calls otherwise she will lose everything. for example, something precious she loves tell her she will lose that this way she will not give up the information. contact aarp.org and see if they have a senior citizen device that will prompt its fraud or telemarketer so she will not have to answer. Maybe u can contact electronic store like best buy something. today they have the monitors you can order to see whose at your door. i believe there's a number to call for fraud. or contact consumer protection bureau

She should have received a new social security card a while back without her social security number on it. If for some reason she hasn't, please request one from the social security office.

I hope mom's heat issue has been resolved, as no one her age should be living without heat. Does she live by herself? Sounds like if she's that vulnerable, she shouldn't be on her own any more. Might be time to be looking into some better living arrangements for mom,(ie. assisted living facility).

In the meantime you can either change her phone number, or have it disconnected, and just get her a simple cell phone to use. Best wishes.

Agree with Candyapple. Call and ask what to do. Meanwhile you now need to remove the Medicare Card. All things should go through you for payment, anyway, and her hospitals and doctors will already have this info.
Most of these scams depend upon the elder giving a lot more than the SS number. They count on their giving their accounts with money in them. I think you won't have a problem, but it is worth a call for certain.

As said, the new Medicare cards do not have the SS# anymore. Its now an ID#.

TG we seem to be getting away from the SS# being used as an acct number. I just signed a form at a Dentists office asking me for a SS#. I did not fill that info in. If you can find an old SS card it says on the back to be for Government use only.

After Dad died I drummed into my Mom not to do anything over the phone. Tell them sorry my daughter handles my finances and hang up. I was lucky she did it.

Marshcath, that telemarketer is really despicable and deserves to be caught.    I would agree with the recommendation to contact SS and report the number, even though it could be a spoofed number.

Is there any way you can put the call on speaker and record it?  

I'd have to check but I believe the FTC also has jurisdiction over communication fraud.   

Some years ago we were having problems with pests harassing us, so I did some research and found that the State Police in our state had a fraud task force.    That's another possibility; it wouldn't surprise me if there are a number of fraud task forces.

Is your mother living with you, or vice versa?    Does the fraudster use the same number, and/or does she give a reply number?   If so, I might just call back and advise her that you're aware of her scam and if she continues to harass your mother you'll make sure all the Federal agencies with jurisdiction are aware of her attempts to manipulate and defraud your mother.

If I can have time, I'll see if I can find the statute on attempted fraud of a federal agency.

Call the police and give them all phone numbers your mother has answered. Hoping they can track the perps down soon.

Also contact social security. Let them know your problem and follow their advice.

Side note: time to secure all sensitive information and financial information and credit/debit cards. Your mom is too gullible to be trusted with that information any longer. Sorry.

I would do a fraud alert with the credit reporting agencies. Then have them lock her credit down.
She will not be able to open any new accounts without going through a process but, this also stops anyone else from using her name and social security number.

I would also contact all existing accounts that she has and put a fraud alert on the account.

If this all seems like to much, you can always pay LifeLock to monitor her credit.

I pray that you nor she has any issues because of a dirt bag scammer.

The sooner you do something to protect her the sooner you can rest easy knowing that you will be notified if anyone is trying to use her identity.

So grateful to each of you who responded! This community truly has helpful, compassionate responders and it means so much to know we're not alone, and to get wise counsel.

I should have explained that my mother lives alone in a gated community, has mild dementia, and a caregiver comes for 3 hours a day to keep her company. I cleaned out all of her financial information a year and a half ago, but amazingly, the day this happened, she found a pink index card with her social security number written on it in a stack of old letters! I had missed it.... I went immediately to her house and retrieved the pink card after this incident. I do handle all of her finances and she does have a credit security freeze with the three reporting agencies.
The vulnerability of our elders is so acute, and the evil ones are so crafty. Our heavenly father sees all! Thank you.

Get a new unlisted telephone number for your mom, Alternatively cancel her landline and get her a cell phone with call blocking.

Your mom and my dad are part of the naive gullible generation that believes everyone who calls them is out for their good and no one has nefarious plans. And sometimes these are the only calls they get each day so at least it is someone to interact with.

Always file a police report after she has given out any personal information. If there is any way to convince her to never answer the phone, I would do so. Real calls will leave her a voicemail

Another thought is call forwarding. On our home phone (currently Verizon, was Comcast) we can forward calls to another phone. And we can do this either from the home phone or from a cell phone. You could forward all her incoming calls to your cell phone if you both have the same provider. If a legitimate call comes through, you can ask them to call back in five minutes, giving you time to switch off call forwarding.

If you haven’t already you need to freeze her credit reports at all 4 agencies so no one can take a loan in her name. Create an a count at the IRS and create an account at social security all in the effort so it makes it harder for someone to use her identity. And why does she have the old Medicare card??

Freeze her credit, my dad was constantly falling prey to the spammers that change your electric service and I was constantly changing it back, I finally got them to realize that they are all trying to steal stuff from them and to not pick up or to hang up- some still get through.

Block the number as well.

The new Medicare cards do not have her social security number on them. Ask Medicare for a replacement card. Register her phone numbers with the Do Not Call Registry https://www.donotcall.gov/. This won't completely stop the calls but does help a bit. You can also put a freeze on her credit account (with the credit card agencies like Experian) or a credit watch so that nobody can open a new account with her information. It makes things more difficult when you do have to open a new account, but may be worth it.

You should have her SS automatically going into her Bank instead of being mailed if you don't already.

Explain to your mom to direct all phone calls of this kind to you.

Tell her to only give out your name and phone #.

Set up the phone for no soliciting calls of any kind.

I sometimes answer them and lead them on for entertainment, I give them nonsensical answers- I've been cursed out more than a few times ....during the election I asked one who they voted for- ma'am I voted for the one that won. Who won ? - he then hung up on me. My dad has been very ill and I spend a lot of time at their house - it's almost a game for me now- they are on do not call but daily the call come in - lots of them - I tell them its illegal and take me off the list nothing works really but hanging up. I go into their account and regular block numbers but to no avail. My mom has called me in a panic that social security is calling her, a few years ago my dad was upset that the FBI had called him because his car was used to run drugs to Mexico - it's criminal really that this is allowed.

Can you get it when she naos? Turn the phone down so she can't hear them call. Block the number but that will only work temporarily. Turn phone off. Disconnect phone till you can get a handle on things. They will call from 4am till 12 at night to get the information.

I would be careful of answering the phone, however. I got a call from someone who said "this is your power company calling and we are going to shut off your power." To my mind, if the power company really were calling, they would state the NAME of the company, and ask for the head of household by name. I was angry, so I called back and told the person off for frightening people. I said, "you don't even know my name." Then he started reading off my name and phone number. I was stupid to call back on my own line. I don't know what his scam was, but I put myself in his crosshairs.

These telemarketers should be smacked with a dead fish! I HATE the endless loop of calls we get on the landline and dang it, now I'm getting them on my cell phone, which I use only for communication with my kiddoes.

I was at my mom's one day when she got one--her car warranty had expired (!) and this forceful guy was just wringing her dry, she was crying over it, thinking her 20 yo car was not protected. Somehow he'd made her think she was going to get arrested!

I took the phone, chewed him out, royally and told him to remove her number from the list---but we all know that's pointless.

I will sometimes take a call and lead the person on--last week when one guy thought he had gotten some serious info from me (all lies) he finally said "Now, we just need your social security number, dear" And I answered "5". He waits, and waits and says, "no, there's a few more numbers" and I said ". No, it's 5". He blew up at me for wasting 20 minutes of his day. laughed and said "Dude, YOU called ME".

DH and I can easily avoid these calls, but mother cannot. Finally we told her to quit answering her phone unless it was a number she absolutely recognized. That helped, but I don't know how much money she'd given away in the past.

If your LO can read the incoming number, one tipoff is that they usually use ENTIRE CITIES as the place of origin. I will see the incoming call and yell to DH--'hey, Portland Oregon is calling us!!"

well first report to social security.  And you know that SS will NEVER call you......they are scams.  Take anything in the house that has your mothers SS # on it so she can't mistakenly give it out again.  I am sure there is someone else to call but right now I can't think of who it is, but I am sure someone else on here can enlighten you.  wishing you luck.

and to anyone else reading these,,,,,,they are called spoofing when they use someone else's number but calling from somewhere else.  so most times it is pointless to call them back on the number shown because it won't be who called you.  yeah reporting to FCC is a joke unless you want to "pay" for a "formal" complaint and then you will still wait for months.  I know.....I worked for them..........so it is a pain in the butt.  We quit answering the phone unless we absolutely know who it is.  good luck to all on these type of calls.

Nomorobo phone app 1.99 a month gets rif of all telemarketers maybe i get 1 that creeps in every 5 days

We tend to think even as non elderly people that if the phone rings you answer it. We are training ourselves in this new world of scammers to not answer every call. This stuff happens to all ages now. It's doubly difficult as an elderly person with dementia. If your situation is such that you can go into her phone account you can set it up so the phone does not ring when calls come in. I have done this for my landline but I can keep the landline to make calls out. I can always look at caller ID later so I control who I talk to. I love it! No more scammers to deal with. Important people like family, friends and doctors have my cell phone number. Having a cell phone doesn't stop them either though. Is there a list of phone numbers she is ok to answer - perhaps list those for her and see if she will use caller ID to only answer those. You can set up particular ringtones for each # that she is ok to answer. I took a different approach with my mom and worked on her behavior. I did a bulletin that I kept by my mom's landline phone which stated in all caps and bold letters not to answer calls or speak to anyone other than me and one other family member who worked with me to reinforce the message. I explained what happens now with calls. I kept reinforcing that with her because she resisted in the beginning. I would ask her if she trusted me. Build her trust. You are fighting these creeps through her who are working on her behavior and trust to get her information. Fight fire with fire. My mom stopped answering the calls. Set up an account online with Social Security (everyone should do regardless of age) so it prevents scammers from doing it and getting the checks. Social Security told me that. The legal route is advised 100% yet in my experience of witnessing other families go that route to see nothing happen or change on their end and in the meantime they have convinced the victim they are on their side. We as family members are the best defense in my humble opinion. I would advise to work with her bank/financial folks too to see what they can do if anything in case they try to get that info. Do you have POA? Best wishes to you and yours.

Definitely reach out to Better Business Bureau and register numbers they’re call in from.

So many of the numbers showing on my Caller ID are local people or companies that most likely would have NO reason to call me so I know that the call is false. I rarely pick up the phone until AFTER the answering machine-that way I know who is calling before I talk to them. A family friend allows the answering machine to answer ALL her phone calls. And then, if the person calling is someone that she wants to talk to, she will call them back

Sometimes, if I pick up the phone before the answering machine does, then (like Cascai), I will have fun with these robocallers---
Anyone remember Carol Burnett's character who would yell "GGEEOORRGGEE" in a grating voice and dress in the most mismatched bathrode or dress. Poor Harvey Korman usually played her husband.
When someone calls I talk in that grating voice and complain about all sorts of things about my (fake) husband and yell for my husband to talk to this person. Or I repeat what the caller says as if I don't understand what they are talking about. Or I act as if the person calling is a good friend and gossip with the caller about nonsensical or untrue topics.

While Mom was alive and living with me, she would sit in the background trying not to laugh during my role-playing on the phone.

Unfortunately these types of calls are now a part of our life and we have to be smarter than they are. ☏

Before hiding everything with your parents social on it. (Which is a waste of time for some) My dad 97 knows his social security number by heart. I am 67 ex military wife of the 70’s. I can recite my social, my ex’s social and my dads social at any time. We used to have to give social security numbers for every transaction on post. They get imbedded in your brain. So before you hide these documents ask your parent what their social security number is. You may be surprised to know they know it.

Marshcath,

There used to be a function on a landline that would trace the call and log it with the phone provider.
I have no idea if it still exists. And you would have to do it right after the call. It was something like *68.

Not sure what your Moms mental status is. That might be too complicated.

Maybe a big visual aide near her phone reminding her to "NEVER GIVE OUT YOUR SSN "!

If it's financially possible, enroll her in an identity theft program such as Life Lock. They'll notify you if there is any suspicious activity!

This is a tough one!!
Best wishes!!

A man with an exceptionally heavy Indian accent and with a great deal of crowded phone bank noise in the background called my parent's home to say he was from Medicare and there were new cards being issued that contained gold chips in them that were GPS monitoring devices. As I quickly researched this particular scam online, I asked how was I supposed to know that he was actually from Medicare? He got angry and tried to bully me into believing him. Wow. I told him I had captured his number and would be reporting it to the FCC and FBI fraud departments. Both have websites for this purpose . Then he hung up in disgust. It just never ends. The greed, corruption and lack of integrity.