Danbury Police Warn That Phone Scams Are On The Rise

DANBURY, CT — The police are warning residents that phone scams are on the rise.

In several instances, the victims were contacted by someone reporting to be a "Social Security agent" and advised their Social Security number was associated with criminal activity. The victims were then instructed to purchase gift cards and/or moneygram cards and provide the card numbers to the caller in order to "re-secure" their Social Security number. The victims were told they would be arrested or face other legal action if they failed to comply to the callers' requests.

Police are reminding residents that, although Social Security Administration officials may conduct business over the phone with customers, they typically do not threaten citizens for information.

Anyone who receives a call of this nature is advised to not give out any personal information, just hang up, and report the phone call to the Office of the Inspector General at 1-800-269-0271 or online at https://oig.ssa.gov/report.

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