Americans Fell Prey to Social Security Scams, Lose $101.58 Million in 2023

Social security scams have turned out to be the most bizarre kind of scams in the United States affecting mostly the senior citizens who seemingly have very little knowledge on how to avoid these. In a recent report released by the Federal Trade Commission, there have been a total of 38,852 social security scams in 2023 alone, that duped gullible senior citizens of $101.58 million. And according to experts, these figures are not at all close to the exact loss being done by such frauds.

These scams have been using prevalent social media platforms such as TikTok, and Facebook to attract senior citizens by running some fake advertisement campaigns that promise some benefits. Once the innocent person gets into the trap, their sensitive personal information is compromised, and fraudsters steal the money from their accounts.

Decoding the Pattern Followed by Fraudsters

These scams originate from social networking platforms, where it becomes easier for the scammers to find their targets. All these scams try to create a sense of emergency among their targets by showing them an urgent opportunity on which they don’t act immediately, they might lose on some special benefits being offered by the government. And to make them sound credible they use the latest AI solutions to build fake avatars of trusted personnel such as celebrities, businessmen, and politicians. Some scams even involve impersonating the voice and video messages of loved ones, which puts the victim in an emotional situation, where they might not think wisely which can lead to losing their precious funds.

Why Do Scamsters Target Senior Citizens?

According to the latest Internet Crime Report released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, US citizens above the age of 60 lost nearly $1.7 billion in fraud in just one year. And these figures are highest among any of the age groups. Several factors make senior citizens the soft target for these scammers.

Being less tech-savvy makes them more vulnerable to these sophisticated technologies being employed. When someone pretending to be their close one, sends them a message, they don’t have much know-how to figure out the authenticity and can fall for it. In addition, fake video campaigns involving celebrities are easy bait for them. What makes them more susceptible is their willingness to get some quick and easy benefits, since they don’t have any steady source of income. When they see a campaign that promises that enrolling in a scheme can improve their financial situation, they are quite likely to take immediate action. Fear of missing out on these lucrative opportunities puts them at high risk.

Social Security Scam Variations

There are plenty of social security scams happening around, and most of them can fit into either of these categories.

1. Fake benefits: AI technologies are employed to build fake videos of celebs talking about an upcoming opportunity that could generate fortunes for senior citizens or provide them with some subsidy. Such campaigns come with a strict time frame message, thus creating a sense of emergency for victims to act on quickly.

2. Impersonation call: The Scammer calls the victim, pretending to be from the Social Security Administration. They explain, that the victim might be at the risk of losing on a potential opportunity if the necessary information is not provided immediately. Once the victim shares their sensitive information, their account is compromised.

3. Phishing emails: Fraudsters can send emails claiming to be part of the Social Security Administration. These emails generally offer a lucrative opportunity prompting the user to click on a link or download an attachment.

4. Alert around social security being suspended: This is one of the most trending social security scams, where fraudsters create a sense of urgency by notifying the victim that their social security number has been suspended, and they need to immediately take action to resume their services.