Full Notification

Nature of Incident: Social Security Phone Scam Targets Residents

Location: Countywide

Date & Time: May 6, 2019 / 08:00 AM

Unit(s) Responsible: Thousand Oaks Police – Financial Crimes Unit

Narrative:

The Thousand Oaks Police Department is warning the public of on-going telephone scam that is allegedly received from the Social Security Administration.

In the past few weeks, residents have reported that they have received recorded calls from scammers pretending to be the Social Security Administration. The recording states that your social security number has been suspended and you will lose all of your benefits. The recording prompts the receiver of the call to press a number on the telephone to be connected to a live person. Furthermore, if you do not respond they threaten that your social security number will be permanently blocked or your bank accounts will be seized.

Here are some tips to remember:

 The Social Security Administration will never call to threaten your benefits or tell you to wire money, send cash or put money on gift cards.

 You do not have to verify your social security number to anyone who initiates a call with you.

 Never give any part of your social security number, bank account information or credit card number to anyone who contacts you.

Remember, a scammer can duplicate the actual phone number of the Social Security Administration by using a special application or computer driven program. If you are worried the call may be a scam hang-up immediately. The best practice is to only give personal identifying information if you initiate the call first and after you have verified the phone number. The real phone number for the Social Security Administration is (800) 772-1213.

If you received one of these calls and suffered a financial loss please contact the Thousand Oaks Police Department at (805) 654-9511. If you received a call and no financial loss was suffered you can file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission at https://www.ftc.gov/.

Prepared by: Detective Timothy Lohman

News Release Date: May 6, 2019

Media Follow-Up Contact: Detective Timothy Lohman (805) 947-8255

[email protected]

Approved by: Captain Denise Sliva

Ventura County Crime Stoppers will pay up to $1,000 reward for information, which leads to the arrest and criminal complaint against the person(s) responsible for this crime. The caller may remain anonymous. The call is not recorded. Call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477).