Social Security Scams Add to Capital One Hack Concern--Update
01 August 2019 - 2:12AM
Dow Jones News
By Yuka Hayashi
WASHINGTON -- Scams aiming to steal people's Social Security
numbers have proliferated this year, adding to worries about
identity theft created by this week's hack at Capital One Financial
Corp. and other high-profile data breaches.
Federal data show scams targeting Social Security numbers have
become one of the most common scams so far this year, overtaking
attempted data thefts involving fake Internal Revenue Service
claims. In many instances, perpetrators impersonating employees of
the Social Security Administration try to get people to reveal
Social Security numbers by telling them their information was
compromised or used in suspicious or criminal activities.
The Federal Trade Commission said such scams were virtually
nonexistent until a few years ago. The commission has so far this
year received nearly 73,000 consumer complaints involving Social
Security Administration impostors, with reported consumer losses of
$16.94 million. That compares with 39,119 complaints for all of
2018 year and 3,065 for 2017. So far this year, complaints over IRS
impostor scams totaled 4,901 for a total financial loss of $1.21
million.
While the data breach at Capital One and a 2017 breach at
Equifax Inc. resulted in the theft of the Social Security numbers
for many consumers, experts say people impersonating government
employees don't usually have their targets' personal information.
Rather, they try to trick people into revealing their Social
Security numbers to create fake identities and apply for credit
cards or other financial transactions.
The scammers often get people to withdraw money from the bank
and to store it on gift cards to "keep it safe," and then try to
steal the money, the FTC said. Many of the calls come from
overseas, with scammers often using caller ID from what appears to
be the Social Security Administration and phone numbers that are
similar to the agency's.
"The Social Security Administration does not seize your
accounts," said Monica Vaca, associate director of the FTC's
consumer response and operations division. "They do not deactivate
your Social Security numbers. They certainly don't charge a fee for
reactivating them."
Experts say the identity of the scammers isn't known but point
to similarities with telephone fraud schemes based overseas. Last
year, U.S. authorities took action against an India-based fraud
operation that allegedly bilked "hundreds of millions of dollars"
from consumers by impersonating tax and immigration officials.
Capital One said Monday that information of roughly 106 million
card customers and applicants was exposed in one of the largest
data breaches at a U.S. bank. The breach compromised about 140,000
Social Security numbers and 80,000 bank account numbers, as well as
some customers' credit scores, payment histories and credit limits.
The hack follows a recent settlement of up to $700 million for
investigations into Equifax's 2017 data breach, which resulted in
the exposure of Social Security numbers and other personal data of
nearly 150 million Americans.
Government officials and financial experts say consumers should
never give Social Security numbers or other personal information to
unknown individuals who contact them. To ensure Social Security
numbers aren't used for criminal purposes, consumers should
consider freezing credit files, regardless of whether their numbers
have been compromised. Thanks to a law enacted last year, consumers
may freeze and unfreeze their credit files without charge by filing
requests with three credit-reporting companies: Equifax, Experian
Information Solutions Inc. and TransUnion LLC.
"The Social Security number is your financial DNA," said Adam
Garber of U.S. PIRG, a consumer group. "That's how we track you to
approve mortgages, auto loans and credit cards. Freeze your credit
immediately to help protect your finances."
Write to Yuka Hayashi at yuka.hayashi@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 31, 2019 11:57 ET (15:57 GMT)
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