Con Artists are now Using Images of Snoop Dogg and Joe Biden to Pull off Social Security Scams
In what is yet another sophisticated ploy deployed by con artists, TikTok and Facebook have been flooded with advertisement campaigns targeting senior citizens where they are lured using perks associated with their social security accounts. But what's striking about their latest tactic is that their ads feature American President Joe Biden and popular rapper Snoop Dogg. While two people from completely different walks of life coming together to promote a scheme may generate more confusion than credibility, the language used by both of them doesn't make the ads look too authentic either. These ads promote a $6,400 card subsidy, in exchange for which, senior folks are asked to share their sensitive personal information that can be utilized later to siphon off hefty amounts of money from their accounts. This is not the first time Snoop Dogg, has been used to make such false claims. Back in 2019, there was another video campaign, where people could hear Snoop Dogg saying that they could get thousands of dollars back if they owed $10,000, just by making a phone call.
Social Security scams on the rise
Social security scams have been rising in the states recently as fraudsters have found innovative ways to steal money from gullible American citizens. They mostly target senior citizens, as they are not well-versed in technology. In addition, senior citizens have a big corpus of money lying in the form of savings or retirement funds, which makes them lucrative targets for these scammers. In 2022, alone a total of $3.1 billion was reported to be stolen through such social security scams. 88,262 senior citizens lost their hard-earned money, with the average money lost per person amounting to $35,101.
Smart strategies to dodge social security scams
Ignore uninvited messages and calls. Do not entertain calls or messages from people pretending to be from any government body or organization.
Don't make the mistake of sharing any personal information and keep them private. Try to protect bank account information, usernames, and especially social security details.
Avoid suspicious payment requests and report them, and never make any fund transfers to dubious contacts. There are many exciting gift cards, subscriptions, and offers available online, but don't fall for those asking for payments to non-verified gateways.
Stay vigilant and keep yourself informed.
In case of any suspicious calls or messages one can directly forward your complaint to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Social Security Administration.
Being skeptical is also good, when approached with alluring investment offers. Hire a qualified financial expert to assist and advise you on where to invest. Such analysts can help you recognize the scams as they have experience and can easily know which ones are fake.
Monitor your credit cards and bank accounts regularly. With the increase of these scams, we sometimes ignore the messages thinking it's from the bank. It has become essential to inculcate the habit of real-time account monitoring and raising issues if any.
