Majority of Seniors Have Been Targeted by a Social Security Scam in the Past Three Months

SimplyWise's November Retirement Confidence Index estimated that 47 percent of Americans have been targeted by a Social Security scam in the past three months, reports CNBC . Seniors comprised 53 percent of those targeted, of whom 21 percent received more than three fraud attempts. While the U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) last year established a new hotline to report scams and the Department of Justice has filed civil actions against telecom companies for knowingly passing along bogus calls, they have not been sufficient deterrents. The SSA said text messages that use the same language as scam robocalls are popping up, as are e-mails with documents that look legitimate. Certain telltales can signal fraudulent phone calls, such as if they are unsolicited, threaten legal action, and ask that recipients not tell others about them. Protective measures recommended against these scams include hanging up immediately, being wary of texts or e-mail notifications that make similar demands, and never giving out one's Social Security number. Fraudsters also can be reported to the SSA through its Inspector General website .