BBB warns of new Social Security phone scam in the Charlotte region
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Residents of the Charlotte region are receiving scam phone calls from a group impersonating the Department of Social Security Administration, according to a statement Monday from the Better Business Bureau of Southern Piedmont and Western N.C.
A Charlotte resident received a voicemail Monday morning that said their Social Security number had been suspended due to suspicious activity in a different state, according to the statement. The voicemail encouraged the resident to return the call at (202) 932-5334.
Tom Bartholomy, president and CEO for the local BBB, said the bureau regularly receives reports of scam calls, but there has been a higher than normal volume of complaints for the Charlotte region.
It received 14 complaints about scam calls Monday, he said.
Bartholomy said he suspects that if consumers had responded to these voicemails, they would have been encouraged to make a payment to recover their Social Security number or provide personal information to the scammer.
“The real tell at that point is that they’re asking you to provide your Social Security number to verify your identity,” he said. “So Social Security’s calling me, and they don’t have my Social Security number. That’s a big red flag.”
The phone calls local residents have received are coming from out-of-state phone numbers and unknown callers, according to the statement.
Those who receive a call like this should hang up and contact the Social Security Administration directly at 1-800-772-1213, and report it to the BBB’s Scam Tracker at bbb.org/scamtracker, the statement said.
This story was originally published July 27, 2020 at 3:04 PM.
