|
David
N. Kirkman
|
North Carolina Division of Aging and Adult Services |
 |
|
|
Phony Social
Security Representatives Still Pushing It
There were three more reports last week of aggressive door-to-door salesmen or con artists posing as employees of the Social Security Administration, two in Wake County and one in Randolph County. One of the Wake County incidents occurred at an assisted living facility. The second Wake County incident and the one in Randolph County reportedly took place at the consumers’ homes. In each instance, the visitors were described as being pushy and demanding. In two of the incidents, they pressured the older consumers to produce their Social Security and Medicare cards, as well as other sensitive information.
In the Wake County incident at the consumer’s house, two representatives approached the consumer in her yard. They showed her a file that contained a great deal of her personal and medical information, including her social security number. In the Wake County incident at the retirement community, the pushy, fake SSA official appeared to be selling Medicare Advantage or Part D prescription drug policies. He left quickly when the resident produced information showing that she had just secured coverage through another company. The visitors could not be identified afterwards in any of the three incidents.
As has been widely reported, the Social Security Administration does not send representatives door-to-door. It is not recommended that older consumers put themselves at risk by trying to obtain license tag numbers or other identifying information from these individuals. Instead, they should avoid speaking to them and immediately report the matter to local law enforcement or their security office if they live in a community or facility that has one. Various law enforcement members of the Task Force are inviting their counterparts who work closely with such consumers to be vigilant and to obtain license tag numbers and physical descriptions when they observe individuals engaging in these activities. Any information obtained can be shared with the Social Security Administration (1-800-772-1213), local authorities and the Department of Insurance’s Seniors’ Health Insurance Information Program (1-800-443-9354).
******End of Alert******
December 10, 2007 |
|
NC Senior Consumer Fraud Task Force View Alerts: Federal
Trade Commission Alerts Related links The United States Postal Inspection Service - Watch
|
