The Better Business Bureau (BBB) of Mississippi is warning Mississippians about an email scam which purports to warn consumers about a Social Security benefit increase, but is really a "phishing" scam, which seeks confidential information from consumers which could be used in identity theft.
Consumers have called and emailed the BBB to notify us of the scam, titled, “Social Security Announces 3.3% Benefit Increase for 2007". One consumer from the Jackson area reported that her husband had received the email, which warned him to go to a special website to update his information by Nov. 11, or risk suspension of his Social Security account.
The Social Security Administration has issued a warning about this scam, which may be accessed at http://www.ssa.gov/pressoffice/pr/colaPhishingScam-pr.htm.
To avoid being a victim of phishing or other email scams, here are a few things to keep in mind:
- Do not respond to any unsolicited or unexpected email.
- Do not click on any links in the email.
- The best thing to do is to hit the "delete" button immediately. If you have a spam or phishing filter on your email browser, make sure it is active and working.
- If any email or website asks you for personal information, do not respond, or enter any information.
- If the email appears to come from a legitimate source, and you have reason to believe it may be legitimate, call the company or agency and ask them if it is indeed legitimate.
To report receipt of this email message or other suspicious activity to Social Security’s Office of Inspector General, please call the OIG Hotline at 1-800-269-0271. (If you are deaf or hard of hearing, call the OIG TTY number at 1-866-501-2101). A Public Fraud Reporting form is also available online at OIG’s website http://www.socialsecurity.gov/oig/hotline/index.htm.
