For pretty much all of 2022, seniors on Social Security were forced to grapple with rampant inflation, and so were consumers across the board, for that matter.
The only positive thing to come out of that was a very generous cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, in 2023. Social Security recipients saw their benefits rise 8.7% at the start of the year. That's the largest COLA to come down the pike in decades.
But while those higher Social Security paychecks are no doubt giving millions of seniors more financial breathing room, the unfortunate reality is that higher benefits have tempted criminals to make more of an effort to go after that money. And it's important that current Social Security recipients know how to spot a scam so they don't end up losing their benefits.
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Scammers are out in full force
Recently, the Social Security Administration's Office of the Inspector General said that 2023's record COLA has led to an uptick in scams. And that's something seniors need to be aware of.
A Social Security scam can take on different forms. It might be that someone calls you out of the blue, telling you there's a problem with your benefits and you need to verify your banking details to make sure those payments aren't held up.
A Social Security scam might also involve a criminal emailing you and offering a chance to boost your benefits if you send a wire transfer to a specified account. Or, you might be contacted by a criminal who threatens to throw you in jail for Social Security fraud if you don't verify your Social Security number and bank account details right away.
All of these scams could make it possible for a criminal to access your personal financial data. Once they have that, they might attempt to steal not just your Social Security benefits, but other funds you have. So it's important to be able to identify the red flags that indicate a scammer has reached out.
As a general rule, the Social Security Administration will not call, text, or email you out of the blue. The agency also will not ask you to send money, whether by wire transfer, gift card, or another source, to "unlock" your benefits or set you up for a higher monthly check.
If you receive a text or email with a link to click on for more information about your Social Security benefits or account, that, too, is apt to be a scam. So you'll want to ignore any sort of suspicious message along those lines.
Also, if a scammer does try to contact you, it's a good idea to report it using this link. That way, the Social Security Administration can investigate the matter and, ideally, stop a criminal from causing additional harm.
Remember, you might know how to spot a Social Security scam and avoid getting hurt. But other seniors may not be as savvy. If you report criminal activity as you come across it, you might spare someone in a similar boat a world of upheaval.
