How to protect yourself from sophisticated scammers

the digital world makes our lives easier in so many ways but it's also opened the door to scammers today is National slam the scam day so I talked with someone from the Social Security Administration about spotting red flags and safeguarding your financial future gone are the days where scams were easier to recognize like those emails from a Nigerian prince or a sweep Stakes winning notification thanks to Ai and years of practice scams are more sophisticated and they use tactics that work so the

y're getting better time over time as Unfortunately they become more experienced Nathan Cole a public affairs specialist with the Social Security Administration says there isn't a specific scam making the rounds right now but rather some common Trends you need to be aware of the scammer is pretending to be from an agency or an organization that you know in order to gain your trust there's also going to be some sort of problem or pricee there's usually urgency and a method of payment that's unusu

al like gift cards or prepaid debit cards when they threaten you and tell you that you need to take immediate action in order for your benefits not to be suspended or for your social security number to be locked or they request your Medicaid number in order to issue a new or replacement card Cole says those are common government impostor scamps this call is from the Department Depart of Social Security Administration we found some suspicious activity if it's a telephone call don't trust your cal

ler ID government impostor scam artists can spoof the caller ID to reflect that it's the Social Security Administration calling you local city or government office is calling you or the police department's calling you and if you think you're being specifically targeted don't click on any links hang up if it's a phone call and look up the organization and phone number your yourself ask them if they're trying to contact you Cole says government offices will never threaten you access your bank acco

unt or demand secrecy do not carry your social security card around with you in your wallet or your purse there's very very few times that the social security card will be needed it's better to leave that at home in a safe and secure spot finally if you fall victim to a government impostor scam report it share the information with your friends your family somebody can learn from that okay so here's how you do just that you can report a scam to the Social Security Administration on their website

at ssa.gov spam