There’s a new twist to the telephone scams targeting social security benefits.
The Office of the Inspector General for the Social Security Administration said the scammers are now sending fake documents that appear to have official government letterhead so victims think they are legitimate.
"It looks official, and it misleads people,” Communications Director for the OIG of the SSA Tracy Lynge said.
The letters often have spelling or grammatical errors.
The scammers will demand a victim hand over money because of a problem with their social security benefits, or they might claim they can help increase their benefits or resolve a problem at a cost.
“Government agencies will never call you on the phone and demand immediate payment for anything, ever,” Lynge said. “If that happens, that is a scam.”
Lynge said more than 500,000 people reported being contacted by one of the social security scammers last year.
"If I don’t hear a call from you, we will have to issue an arrest warrant under your name,” one of the robocalls says according to the Federal Trade Commission.
Click here to report a suspected scam.