I approve. I routinely get phone calls and text messages informing me of the "Social Security grocery allowance.' I usually hang up before they can make their pitch. The number is a 615 area code. I will block the number and then the next day, I will get another call, again from a 615 area code, but a different number. It is annoying and frustrating. I have reached the point to where I almost never answer a call from an unknown number. I could be missing legitimate calls.
There is no official “Social Security grocery allowance” issued by the Social Security Administration. The benefit they try to tell me about is usually a $900 or $2,700 annual food allowance. Sometimes, I will play along and let the caller waste his time and ask question if I am in a good mood and have nothing else to do. This is not a Social Security program. Instead, it’s a supplemental benefit offered by some Medicare Advantage Part C insurance plans.
Another call I sometimes get is from someone asking me if I still have back pain. Since I am old, I guess they assume a lot of old people have back pain. I don't. I think this is a Medicare scam. If I stay on the line, they will transfer me to a doctor to diagnose me over the phone. I never let the call go that long, but I have learned I am entitled to a back brace, and they will send it to me at no cost. These calls are almost always from someone with a lilting Indian accent.
I hope the coalition of attorneys general can succeed in stopping these scam calls. The coalition filed comments supporting proposed FCC rules that would help prevent criminals from exploiting legitimate phone numbers to carry out robocall and text message scams.
"Scammers are constantly changing tactics to stay one step ahead, and we have to be just as relentless in protecting consumers," said Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti. "Cracking down on illegal spoofing made a real difference, but now bad actors are exploiting legitimate phone numbers to gain consumers' trust. These commonsense reforms will make it harder for scammers to operate and easier for law enforcement to track them down and hold them accountable."
In a press release, Skrmetti said Americans received an estimated 29.6 billion scam robocalls and text messages last year and lost nearly $2 billion to these schemes.
To better protect consumers, the bipartisan coalition is urging the FCC to:
- Require companies that purchase and resell North American phone numbers to meet stronger certification standards and disclose how and to whom numbers are assigned.
- Require regular reporting on the sale and use of phone numbers so law enforcement can trace illegal robocalls to their source and hold companies throughout the call chain accountable.
- Require applicants seeking access to phone numbers to certify they will not use them to facilitate illegal robocalls.
- Prevent the sale of phone numbers to entities that are not connected to a legitimate calling or texting service.
- Prohibit "number cycling," the practice of rapidly rotating through large blocks of phone numbers to evade spam detection tools.
- Restrict the availability of trial phone numbers that scammers can exploit to carry out fraudulent schemes.
Top Stories
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment