Telemarketer continues to call my 84-year-old mother saying she will lose benefits because claims have been made against her.
If she will provide her social security number they will stop the fraud. I have her social security card but she has her Medicare card with social security number.
She's not herself today, having lost HVAC a couple of days ago and stressed from no heat etc. I'm afraid she may have given them her social security number today.
Is there anything I can do? I'm so concerned about stolen identity, social security fraud and more.
Always file a police report after she has given out any personal information. If there is any way to convince her to never answer the phone, I would do so. Real calls will leave her a voicemail
Another thought is call forwarding. On our home phone (currently Verizon, was Comcast) we can forward calls to another phone. And we can do this either from the home phone or from a cell phone. You could forward all her incoming calls to your cell phone if you both have the same provider. If a legitimate call comes through, you can ask them to call back in five minutes, giving you time to switch off call forwarding.
I should have explained that my mother lives alone in a gated community, has mild dementia, and a caregiver comes for 3 hours a day to keep her company. I cleaned out all of her financial information a year and a half ago, but amazingly, the day this happened, she found a pink index card with her social security number written on it in a stack of old letters! I had missed it.... I went immediately to her house and retrieved the pink card after this incident. I do handle all of her finances and she does have a credit security freeze with the three reporting agencies.
The vulnerability of our elders is so acute, and the evil ones are so crafty. Our heavenly father sees all! Thank you.
AWESOME! So, the only thing you would have really to worry about if they got her SS# is any existing accounts. If she has a credit card, contact them. Contact the bank as well. They may all issue a new ID/card, just in case. Or, if nothing untoward has happened, if they have that info and something DOES happen, it will be easier and quicker to deal with!
She will not be able to open any new accounts without going through a process but, this also stops anyone else from using her name and social security number.
I would also contact all existing accounts that she has and put a fraud alert on the account.
If this all seems like to much, you can always pay LifeLock to monitor her credit.
I pray that you nor she has any issues because of a dirt bag scammer.
The sooner you do something to protect her the sooner you can rest easy knowing that you will be notified if anyone is trying to use her identity.
Also contact social security. Let them know your problem and follow their advice.
Side note: time to secure all sensitive information and financial information and credit/debit cards. Your mom is too gullible to be trusted with that information any longer. Sorry.
Is there any way you can put the call on speaker and record it?
I'd have to check but I believe the FTC also has jurisdiction over communication fraud.
Some years ago we were having problems with pests harassing us, so I did some research and found that the State Police in our state had a fraud task force. That's another possibility; it wouldn't surprise me if there are a number of fraud task forces.
Is your mother living with you, or vice versa? Does the fraudster use the same number, and/or does she give a reply number? If so, I might just call back and advise her that you're aware of her scam and if she continues to harass your mother you'll make sure all the Federal agencies with jurisdiction are aware of her attempts to manipulate and defraud your mother.
If I can have time, I'll see if I can find the statute on attempted fraud of a federal agency.
TG we seem to be getting away from the SS# being used as an acct number. I just signed a form at a Dentists office asking me for a SS#. I did not fill that info in. If you can find an old SS card it says on the back to be for Government use only.
After Dad died I drummed into my Mom not to do anything over the phone. Tell them sorry my daughter handles my finances and hang up. I was lucky she did it.
Most of these scams depend upon the elder giving a lot more than the SS number. They count on their giving their accounts with money in them. I think you won't have a problem, but it is worth a call for certain.
I hope mom's heat issue has been resolved, as no one her age should be living without heat. Does she live by herself? Sounds like if she's that vulnerable, she shouldn't be on her own any more. Might be time to be looking into some better living arrangements for mom,(ie. assisted living facility).
In the meantime you can either change her phone number, or have it disconnected, and just get her a simple cell phone to use. Best wishes.
https://www.tomsguide.com/us/what-to-do-ssn-stolen,news-18742.html