Vermilion Parish Sheriff Mike Couvillon advises the public to be aware of a recent scam involving social security numbers.
The sheriff’s office says the caller says that he’s from the federal government and reports that the Social Security number (SSN) of the recipient of the call has been suspended. They ask the recipient to call a fake number.
The Vermilion Parish Sheriff’s Office says that they have received reports about scammers trying to trick people out of their personal information by telling them that they need to “reactivate” their supposedly “suspended” SSNs. The scammers say the SSN was suspended because of some connection to fraud or other criminal activity.
They say to call a number to clear it up, where they’ll ask you for personal information.
Officials remind the public that Social Security numbers do not get suspended.
Here are a few tips from VPSO to protect against scams like this:
- Never give out or confirm personal information over the phone, via email or on a website until you’ve checked out whoever is asking you for it.
- Do not trust a name, phone number, or email address just because it seems to be connected with the government. Con artists use official-sounding names and may fake caller ID or email address information to make you trust them. Besides, the government normally contacts people by postal mail.
- Contact government agencies directly, using telephone numbers and website addresses you know to be legitimate.
If someone has tried to steal your personal information by pretending to be from the government, report it to the FTC.
