SSA Reveals "The 4 P's" Of Social Security Scams: How To Catch Them Before They Catch You

Many Americans have been there before: You get a phone call with life altering news. That's where it starts. Phone and email contact from sources purporting to be the Social Security Administration are rampant in the United States. Sometimes the callers will suggest that you've been overpaid and need to return the money, other contacts will take an opposing tack and break the news that you're actually owed something more.

Tens of thousands of scam contacts are made per year, with peak SSA impersonation attempts taking place in the first quarter of 2021 (with over 225,000 scam allegations in those months alone). Given the staggering rate at which thieves pose as Social Security officials and work to steal from unsuspecting victims, it's no wonder that SSA has leveraged significant resources to making the public aware of these issues. First, the government agency will never contact recipients with threats or suggest that some kind of payment to the government should be made through wire transfer, mailed cash, cryptocurrency, or gift card. Plenty of other hallmarks of scam contacts are outlined by SSA's scam awareness programs, but the agency has taken great care to outline what it calls the "Four P's" of Social Security scams. With these four concepts in mind, you'll be more mindful of the holes in a scammers story and find yourself well prepared to defeat the carefully crafted façade that a scammer seeks to hide behind.

The Social Security Administration sent out an email to Americans in late February ahead of what the Social Security Office of the Inspector General has designated as "National Slam the Scam Day" (March 6, 2025). In the email, SSA notes the prevalence of scam contacts directed at veterans in particular. The agency outlines four tactics that come together to form the backbone of any fraudulent contact, starting with "pretending."

Scammers pretend to be calling from an agency that you know and are meant to trust. This might be the Social Security Administration, Veterans Administration, or another reputable source of information — and often financial benefits of some kind. This opens the door for them because you're unlikely to immediately hang up on a representative of a government agency you know to be legitimate. The trouble lies ahead, however. Once a scammer has delivered their initial rapport building strategies, they'll move into the real pitch. But this is all built on a foundation of lies. SSA and other government agencies will rarely reach out to Americans directly, and this is done through the mail rather than by phone or email. First and foremost, you should be skeptical of anyone calling and claiming to be from an organization you know to be part of the government. Agencies can certainly place calls to people they need to speak with, but this is rare.

After seeking to build some preliminary trust through the coattails of a legitimate agency's name and basic details, scammers move onto their primary purpose: Separating you from your money or sensitive personal data. Scammers will tell you that there's either a "problem" with your account, benefits, or other personal details, or a "prize" that you haven't yet claimed.

Either approach may be a part of a scammer's arsenal, and some overeager callers may even try both in the same conversation! No matter the pitch you receive, it's important to understand that SSA doesn't call people and tell them they've been overpaid or that they need to perform some action to receive additional funds. One particular target is the annual COLA. This is a cost of living adjustment that happens automatically and is applied to your Social Security checks without any action on your part. However, scammers might suggest there's a problem with your adjustment and ask for your bank details in order to resolve the issue. Another common approach is the problem of overpayment. SSA can overpay a recipient, but the government won't call and demand that you repay it or face imprisonment or other consequences. If unexpected repayments or windfalls follow the initial credential building phase of the phone call, you should become even more skeptical of the caller.

Once the pitch is out there, scammers then ramp up the "pressure." They'll begin to say things like "you need to get this issue resolved now," or "I need your details immediately." This is really where the divergence takes place between legitimate contact with government representatives and thieves seeking to take from you. It's conceivable that a government representative might reach out to solve a discrepancy in your account; that's where the scam piggybacks on reality to ensnare unsuspecting Americans. But there's no getting around the call to action. Real representatives of the federal (or local) government don't pressure you into action, they merely relay the facts and give you the ability to make choices with them in mind. And again, actual government representatives never ask for action over the phone.

A scammer, on the other hand, needs to get you to give up the goods on this phone call, right now. That's because they aren't a legitimate representative of the government, and if you hang up, the opportunity dries up. They'll therefore look to pressure you by levying threats of police action, suspension of benefits or coverage, and more. The real government never engages in this type of behavior, and so if you've been suspicious up to this point but haven't yet determined that the contact is a scam, this is your bright, blazing sign to hang up the phone.

Finally, once a scammer has broken down your defenses, they'll give you specific instructions on how to deliver the thing they're asking for. Typically, these scammers are looking for money, so they'll offer you a way to "pay" them. Payments to scammers are often done through retail gift cards. This is because it's hard to trace where that money goes once it leaves your account and is loaded onto a gift voucher. Unlike a bank transfer that has a recipient attached, a gift card's usage numbers can be repeated over the phone, and from there the money performs something of a disappearing act.

There have been cases in which SSI payments have been halted as a result of circumstance changes. In the most extreme of circumstances, the government may initially demand repayment of these benefits. But the government doesn't take payment via dodgy online portals, cryptocurrency transactions, or gift card serial numbers. More to the point, the government won't call you looking to be paid over the phone like this. The result is a final "P" and a conversation ending nail in the coffin. If someone calls you and meanders through a script that ends in instructions on how to make a payment to them, they are not working for the government and are instead seeking to steal your money.