12 Days of Scams Day 4: Government imposter scams

Many of the federal government’s consumer protection efforts are handled by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

The FTC reports that scammers pretending to be from the federal government reached the highest levels on record in spring 2019, and this is the most commonly reported fraud the FTC deals with..

Consumers were contacted by phone or email by someone falsely claiming to be from the Social Security Administration, Internal Revenue Service, or another government entity.

These scammers may tell people that their Social Security number has been suspended, which does not happen, or that they are facing arrest because they owe back taxes and demand payment from the consumer to avoid getting into trouble. Often, they demand that a consumer pay with a gift card -- which is a dead giveaway that the consumer is dealing with a scammer.

This scam doesn’t actually work all that well any more, but it does haul in victims of all ages. The scammers are willing to use a high volume of computerized calls or emails just to haul in a few gullible folks. Watch out for it! More information is available at https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USFTC/bulletins/253a8d4.