The Social Security Administration has issued a warning about an imposter scam presently circulating in which scammers receive an email with the subject line of “Alert: Social Security Account Issues Detected” with an attachment such as the one appearing below which purports to inform the targeted victim that his or her Social Security number will be suspended within 24 hours and their case referred for criminal prosecution.  The letter provides a phone number to call to remedy the situation.  If you call the number, a scammer posing as a Social Security representative will answer and require you to provide personal information and make a payment to resolve the situation.

Unfortunately, using AI it is a simple matter for a scammer to create an official appearing letter such as the one reproduced below.

TIPS

The first thing to note is that the Social Security Administration never suspends a Social Security number so immediately you can recognize this email as a scam.  The Social Security Administration will never call, email or text you to threaten suspension of your Social Security number and they do not demand immediate payment for purported offenses.  Nor, unlike scammers, do they demand payment by gift cards, wire transfers or cryptocurrencies.  Only scammers demand payment by these methods.

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