RSO warns of Social Security telephone scam

The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department issued a warning Thursday about a social security scam which has been targeting county residents with increased frequency as of late.

The scam, which involves the scammer posing as an agent from the Social Security Administration, is designed to acquire sensitive information as well as a sum of money to prevent the arrest of the person being scammed.

But the scam doesn’t stop there; an extensive process involving a secondary call from an apparent local law enforcement agent is utilized to establish seeming legitimacy to the ploy. First, the victim provides the phone number of a local law enforcement agency to the scammer.

” The agent directs the victim to wait for a call from the local law enforcement agency. The victim receives a call from a Caller ID identified number naming the local law enforcement agency, ” reads the RSO release. ” The person on the phone identifies themselves as an officer with the local agency, who then directs the victim to comply with the “agent” when called again. The fictitious agent calls back then threatens the victim with a felony arrest warrant unless a ‘bond ‘ is posted. ”

The scammer will then advise the victim to pay the bond off quickly in the form of Google Pay, Apple Pay, or with a gift card, from a retailer like Target or Walmart. RSO emphasized in its warning that no institution would request payment in the form of a gift card.

” This type of scam has several variations. In addition to callers claiming to represent the Social Security Administration, the IRS, out-of-state police agencies, and other government agencies have also been falsely represented, ” reads the RSO release. ” The consistent theme is the victim is directed to submit the ‘gift card bond.’ The victim is told the ‘bond’ will be refunded when the criminal issue is resolved. Since the cards are purchased then provided to the fictitious agents, there is no mechanism for reimbursing the victim. Similar scams have the victim going directly to the bank for withdrawals. ”

Anyone looking to report this or other similar scams is urged to contact the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department at 951-776-1099.