Don't Be A Phishing Victim - Morgan & Weisbrod

The Social Security Administration now allows Americans to create and monitor online accounts called “my Social Security.” This service helps Social Security Disability benefit recipients because it allows them to update their addresses or payment information without traveling to a field office.

But you should be warned that some Americans have received fraudulent “phishing” emails, encouraging them to create a “my Social Security” account. The email is not from the Social Security Administration; it is from a scammer.

If you receive an email like that, do not click on the links contained within the email. Instead, forward the email to the United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team.

Here’s how you can detect a fraudulent email message:

No email from the Social Security Administration will be sent from an email address associated with private companies such as Yahoo, Hotmail, Gmail, or AOL.
An email from a scammer may contain poor word choice, phrasing, spelling, or extra words that are not needed.
Links to Social Security websites will always begin with http://www.socialsecurity.gov/or https://secure.ssa.gov/. The slash after “.gov” is important because it shows that the website is a government-run website. You should not trust a link that has “.gov” within the text and does not have a slash afterwards. For example, do not trust this: http://www.socialsecurity.gov.bx.co.rx/setup.

To discuss a Social Security Disability matter with our Texas disability lawyers, contact us. Fill out an online form, or call us at 800-800-6353. If you’re interested, we can send you a free copy of our book, Social Security Disability: What You Need To Know.

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