There’s been a surge in conversation around Social Security scams in recent weeks. In early April, the Social Security Administration (SSA) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) issued a warning on Facebook urging people to never share their Social Security numbers with unknown callers. At the same time, interest in the topic has spiked — “social security scams” has been searched more than 550,000 times in the past month, marking its first major surge in the last year.
This follows a wave of scam emails reported in late February, where fraudsters were impersonating the SSA. The messages claimed to provide access to recipients’ Social Security statements, and officials warned at the time that clicking the links could lead to identity theft, financial loss or compromised personal data.
At CNBC Select, we’re always looking for ways to help you protect and grow your money. With scams on the rise, now is a good time to consider signing up for an identity protection service to help safeguard your personal information.
Take action to protect your identity
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Plans from $9 to $20 per month, billed annually
Protects against identity theft, financial fraud, spam calls, online theft, scam websites, viruses and malware. Offers VPN, 3-credit bureau monitoring, password manager and instant credit lock.
Red flags to watch out for
There are a handful of warnings signs to watch out for when determining whether an email impersonating the SSA is actually a scam. In this case, receiving an email from an email address that doesn’t end in “.gov” but claims it’s from the SSA is a red flag. Also, emails that create urgency to take an action immediately are warning signs.
Other red flags listed by the SSA involve messages claiming your Social Security statement is ready to download, along with embedded links or attachments labeled as statements.
More generally, other red flags can include misspellings in agency or company names, as well as an email address not matching the organization it claims to be from. Also be wary of what you’re being instructed to do. Are you being asked to provide your Social Security number, credit card number or some other super personal information? Chances are, it’s a scam.
What’s legit
According to the SSA website, if you have a personal my Social Security account, the agency will send an email once per year — usually three months before your birthday — reminding you to check your Social Security statement online. The agency will not contact you by phone for business purposes.
How to protect yourself from a scam
Falling victim to a scam is distressing, especially because your personal information can be used to steal your identity, drain your bank account and, ultimately, compromise your financial health.
Here’s what you can do to protect your Social Security number from scammers:
Use an identity protection service
Many identity protection services offer features that scan the dark web for your information, as well as protect you against spam calls, viruses and malware. A good service can give you peace of mind and alert you when something is wrong so you can take immediate action to secure your information.
IdentityForce has plans that come with dark web scanning and up to $1 million in identity theft insurance. It provides credit monitoring for all three bureaus and a family plan.
IdentityForce®
On IdentityForce®’s site.
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Cost
UltraSecure Individual: $19.90 per month or $199.90 per year; UltraSecure+Credit Individual: $34.90 per month or $349.90 per year; UltraSecure Family: $24.90 per month or $249.90 per year; UltraSecure+Credit Family: $39.90 per month or $399.90 per year
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Credit bureaus monitored
3-bureau credit monitoring, alerts and reports: Experian, Equifax and TransUnion®, with UltraSecure+Credit Individual and UltraSecure+Credit Family plans only
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Credit scoring model used
VantageScore®3.0, with UltraSecure+Credit Individual and UltraSecure+Credit Family plans only
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Dark web scan
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Identity theft insurance
Yes, at least $1 million with all plans
Pros
- 3-bureau credit monitoring, alerts and reports
- Free VantageScore®3.0
- Dark web scanning
- Minimum $1 million identity theft insurance coverage
- Offers family plan
Cons
- Plans start at about $20 per month
- Doesn’t look at FICO® Score
Identity Guard plans include $1 million in identity theft insurance, plus users get data breach notifications and monitoring of high-risk transactions, bank accounts and social media. With certain plans, you can also access three-bureaucredit monitoringand your monthly credit score.
Identity Guard
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Cost
From $7.50 to $25.00 per month, billed annually on individual plans and $12.50 to $33.33 per month, billed annually on family plans
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Identity theft insurance
Up to $1 million in insurance for eligible losses from identity theft
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Credit monitoring
The Total and Ultra plans monitor your Experian, Equifax and TransUnion credit reports; the Value plan doesn’t offer credit monitoring.
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Mobile app
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Family plan
Pros
- Option to choose from three plans: Value, Total and Ultra
- All plans provide identity theft insurance up to $1 million
- Variety of privacy tools that help reduce telemarketing calls, junk mail and more (free with annual plans)
Cons
- No credit monitoring with Value plan
Aura has a family plan that’s available for up to five adults and an unlimited number of kids. Parents can protect their entire family with benefits like alert sharing, parental controls and cyberbullying alerts for video games. Aura also offers a 14-day free trial and has a fraud resolution team when something goes wrong.
Aura
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Cost
Plans from $9 to $20 per month, billed annually
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Standout features
Protects against identity theft, financial fraud, spam calls, online theft, scam websites, viruses and malware. Offers VPN, 3-credit bureau monitoring, password manager and instant credit lock.
Pros
- Family plan available for up to five adults and an unlimited number of kids
- 14-day free trial
- Discount if you buy an annual plan
- Offers couple and family plans
Cons
- Doesn’t monitor social media accounts.
- Annual plans can only be cancelled in the first 60 days
Freeze your credit
If you don’t plan on applying for new lines of credit, you can freeze your credit. This way, if scammers try to open up lines of credit in your name, lenders won’t be able to approve it without credit report access.
To freeze your credit, you’ll need to reach out to all three credit bureaus:
Never click on suspicious links
Some scams prompt you to click on a link that takes you to a fake website to gather your personal information or unintentionally download malware onto your computer. Instead of clicking on the link, you can hover your mouse over the link so you can see if the link takes you to a legitimate domain.
Verify the situation
If you get a text, email or phone call (even from organizations you frequent regularly, like your bank), reach out directly to the respective customer service team to verify the details of the email or text. Let them know what you received and ask if their team legitimately reached out.
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AtCNBC Select, our mission is to provide our readers with high-quality service journalism and comprehensive consumer advice so they can make informed decisions with their money. Every financial scam article is based on rigorous reporting by our team of expert writers and editors with extensive knowledge of identity protection and credit monitoring products. While CNBC Select earns a commission from affiliate partners on many offers and links, we create all our content without input from our commercial team or any outside third parties, and we pride ourselves on our journalistic standards and ethics.
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