What do I do about this SCAM phone call?

[raccoon]

I was getting a call from DC. it was potential scam so I let it go to voicemail. Here is the transcription.

“Read 26344 verify your Social Security number when you called you better also if you _⁠_⁠_⁠_ this is Hugh now if we don't hear a call from you we will have to if you have _⁠_⁠_⁠_⁠arrest warrant_ under your name and get you arrested thank you…”

Needless to say, I’m not going to call them. Is there somebody I can report this sort of thing to?

[frazzled]

1. Call your state Attorney General

Also contact Social Security.

[ProfessorGAC]

4. I Think Most AGs...

...have departments specifically to investigate & enforce laws.
If I remember that right, they probably have a reporting mechanism on the state DoJ website.

[samnsara]

2. i would report it to the police maybe they have a #...but its effecting local ppl so..

..one would think they want to be on the look out for ppl scamming their town

[Karadeniz]

3. One of our lawyers will know what crime it is to use the phone for threats...maybe there's a

Better place to go than the police.

[fescuerescue]

5. Just ignore it

That way you can do exactly what the cops will do.

This stuff is so extremely common, with so very little to trace it, cops don't do anything.

[Stinky The Clown]

9. This

[soothsayer]

10. Yep, ignore

[totodeinhere]

20. Correct. Reporting it won't do any good because there are so many of these calls that the

authorities don't have enough resources to track them all down, even if they could.

[Sherman A1]

21. Yup

It’s about the only thing to do.

[struggle4progress]

22. +

[Auggie]

6. I just ignore calls like that

Hopefully a 2021 DEMOCRATIC House and DEMOCRATIC senate and DEMOCRATIC White House will be able to stop this shit.

[DonaldsRump]

7. A few places to go

Almost all of the State Attorneys General have a consumer protection division, so you can start with the one in your state and ask them where to go if they won't handle it. If they tell you to let it go, don't. Tell them it's THEIR JOB to help you.

Other places are the US Federal Trade Commission (also consumer protection, in addition to antitrust) and the FBI.

Good luck!

[ohtransplant]

8. I'd start with your local police so there's a record...just in case

and then you decide how far and wide an effort you have time for.

If it were me, my next steps would be to notify your state attorney general's office and the FTC (lead federal agency for id theft. scams). I believe you can do this online at their web sites but that may vary with your state attorney general's site.

Be safe.

[AmyStrange]

11. Arrest warrant!

-

ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

Does anyone really fall for this shit?
===========

[raccoon]

13. AARP mentioned this in a recent email. Nt

[AmyStrange]

17. I guess some do, but...

-

if they ever call me, I'm telling them to come on over, and then ask politely if they don't mind that I have the local cops over too, you know, to help out with the arrest and all that.
=========

[TreasonousBastard]

12. State police, local police, state AG, your phone company, even the FBI is a thought. There's...

some kind of organization investigating these calls, but I'm not sure how effective they are-- perhaps they just make lists. Maybe all of them just make lists.

These calls often originate overseas and fake the DC phone #. Was there a recognizable accent? This does not sound like a native English speaker.

At any rate, chances of actual arrest are nonexistent. No police organization would make this call.

[safeinOhio]

14. Most are smart enough not to give a

call back number. They were really screwing up by doing that. The cops now have something to go. Report to the local cops. Then report it to your states Attorney Generals office.

Go get em.

[brush]

15. I got the same message yesterday. It's a scam, ignore it.

[Jirel]

16. Report to the SSA Office of Inspector General.

You can do what others suggest, too - call on your AG. BUT, SSA has a special line for SSA fraud calls through their OIG office.

Social Security and the Office of Inspector General (OIG) take these scams very seriously. We do everything we can to stop the perpetrators and educate the public. To report suspicious activity, 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: https://www.socialsecurity.gov/fraudreport/oig/public_fraud_reporting/form.htm.

The link to their entire page on SSA scam calls is at https://www.ssa.gov/phila/scams.htm

[JDC]

18. You can also typically report this to your carrier as well

I report Spam calls and SMS masks all the time to my provider. It's easy to do

[Revanchist]

19. They are probably using a false number also

Reporting it probably won't do any good since the number will be a dead end.

[Roland99]

23. Have fun with them. I dragged one call out for about 7-8 min with the guy

was laughing my a** off inside

Sometimes, I'll get 5-6 of those calls in a week

[MineralMan]

24. Simplest thing is to ignore it altogether.

You can report it to the authorities, but they already know about this scam. The number used was spoofed, so that won't help in an investigation.

If you can, block that number, but they'll just switch to another spoofed number.