People 70 and older who lose money to Social Security impersonators lose more, on average, than younger victims. That is the finding in the latest quarterly scam report from the Social Security Administration’s Office of the Inspector General, which covers April 1 through June 30, 2026.
The same report shows that people under 50 are the larger group among those who report losing money. More younger people report losses. The older victims lose more each.
Who reports losses, and who loses more
In the April to June quarter, 451 people under 50 reported losing money, compared with 385 people aged 50 and older. The inspector general says fewer people 50 and older have reported losses than people under 50 in each of the last three quarters.
Average losses run the other way. The report says people 70 and older reported higher average losses than those under 70 in the first and second quarters of fiscal 2026, and that this continued in the third. That is an average per victim. It is not a total, and it is not a count of how many victims there were.
The report gives no dollar amounts for those averages in its text. The figures appear only in charts.
Victims over 70 are therefore not the largest group in the count, but they are the group whose average loss is highest, according to the inspector general.
How the impersonation works
Pretending to be from Social Security was the most common feature of the reports. In the third quarter, 81 percent of complaints involved a scammer who said they were from SSA or from the inspector general’s office, down from 87 percent the quarter before. Another 16 percent involved someone claiming to be from a different government agency.
Twelve percent of complaints involved a supposed problem with the person’s Social Security number, up from 8 percent. Another 12 percent involved a supposed problem with benefits, up from 10 percent. The percentages add to more than 100 because one complaint can include several of these.
The Federal Trade Commission, the inspector general says, identifies Social Security-related scams as the top reported federal government imposter scam, based on data as of July 28, 2026. The report also says scams reported to the inspector general have “decreased significantly since 2021,” though the office says it stays vigilant.
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Fake badges with real names
One tactic in the report is new. On April 28, 2026, the inspector general’s office issued an alert that scammers were using the names of real OIG employees on fake badges and credentials. A caller who texts or emails a picture of an official-looking badge can seem harder to dismiss.
The report lists other tactics. Scammers spoof phone numbers, send doctored images of credentials, and pull details from a person’s social media profiles to build trust. They claim a problem with the person’s Social Security number, benefits, accounts or identity. And they press for immediate action.
The Social Security Administration’s scam page describes the pattern in four steps: pretend to be a trusted agency, claim a problem or prize, pressure the person to act right away and demand a specific form of payment. Common threats include arrest, suspension of a Social Security number and seizure of a bank account.
According to the report, scammers demand payment through gift cards, precious metals such as gold bars, cryptocurrency, wire transfers and cash, along with other hard-to-trace methods. Social Security’s own scam page adds prepaid debit cards and mailed cash, and warns of callers who ask a person to move money to a “protected” account or hand over cash or gold in person.
In May 2026 the inspector general’s office and SSA created materials on gold bar scams. Precious metals are one of the payment methods the report lists.
What the inspector general advises
The inspector general’s advice for anyone contacted is to ignore unexpected contact claiming to be from Social Security or the inspector general’s office, and not to trust caller ID. It says not to click links or open attachments from unknown senders and to check any contact using publicly listed information.
The office also recommends creating a my Social Security account. Social Security’s scam page says the account sends alerts if someone tries to change an address or direct deposit.
A person who has already been scammed should stop contact, tell their financial institutions and file a police report, the report says. Social Security’s page adds that anyone whose personal information was stolen should ask Equifax, Experian and TransUnion for a fraud alert, and can report identity theft and get a recovery plan at identitytheft.gov.
Scams can be reported on the inspector general’s report page, at ReportFraud.ftc.gov, or by phone to the FTC at (877) 382-4357. The report also lists the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov.
The inspector general’s office says it posted 128 times on social media during the quarter and started releasing short videos about scams in June. It joined a June 4 webinar called Shielding Seniors from Scams and took part in the Never Ever campaign for World Elder Abuse Awareness Day.
It also sent “Read This!” letters to owners of new domains related to Social Security, worked with email providers on an effort called Canned Spam, and had malicious code removed that could have been used to impersonate an SSA website.
If a caller flashes a Social Security badge, who is really on the line?
The report shows that people 70 and older lose more on average, and that a convincing badge or a spoofed number can be enough to get cash, gold or gift cards out the door. Once the money has left, the first hour is when a victim can still act.
The Senior Fraud Defense & First-Hour Recovery Kit includes the free credit-freeze steps, so the person who gave out a Social Security number can lock their credit the same day. It is built around a first-hour plan, with a section on checking who is really calling.
Get the Fraud Defense Kit’s credit-freeze steps for a fake-Social-Security caller →
More Financial Reading
- 15 Steps to Stop the Scams That Took $7.7 Billion From Seniors
- 21 Ways to Stretch a $2,087 Social Security Check
- 15 Ways Retirees Are Tapping a Record $14.9 Trillion in Home Equity
This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by the editorial team.
Warren Cohen is a finance writer based in Phoenix, Arizona, covering personal finance topics including credit, banking, and beginner investing. He earned his degree in business administration from Arizona State University and began his career working in consumer finance, where he gained direct experience with lending and credit systems. He now writes for personal finance websites and fintech platforms, focusing on clear, practical content that helps readers make informed financial decisions.
