St. Augustine man pushes back against callers claiming to be Social Security Administration agents

A St. Augustine man, fed up with Social Security Administration impostors, recorded his exchange with the callers to spread the word.

Benjamin Brown said he got a series of calls, each with more aggressive claims about why he was being contacted.

In one call, a male said Brown’s social security number was being suspended.

“(A) case filed against you for drug trafficking and also as well as money laundering in the state of Texas,” the caller said.

The reason for the calls varied, but the request was the same.

“I just want to verify I am speaking with the right person or not. Can you help me out with your date of birth and social number?” the caller said.

Fed up, Brown decided to fire back -- and the exchange got heated.

“I just want to know why you’re trying to scam the American public,” Brown can be heard saying to one caller.

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At one point, the female caller can be heard telling him to “shut your (expletive) mouth.”

In another exchange, the female caller is heard saying: “I’m going to kill you, OK?” To which Brown replies: “Oh you’re going to kill me? Good luck.”

“I was very shocked. I couldn’t believe what she said,” Brown said.

The administration is urging people to never provide sensitive information to strangers over the phone or internet.

“They’re getting more clever with where they tell you they’re calling from, the reason they’re calling. They’re tricking people into giving up their money,” Brown said.

He said that’s why he called the impersonators back.

“Why do you do stuff like this?” he can be heard asking. The female responds: “I do it cause I don’t have money so.”

Brown says, “You don’t have money so you steal it from us? … That’s terrible, why would you do that to someone.”

The Social Security Administration issued an alert Thursday morning about scam calls, warning the public to be cautious and to never give out sensitive information to unknown people over the phone or internet.

The SSA asks if a person receives these calls to report the information to the OIG Fraud Hotline at 1-800-269-0271 or online at https://oig.ssa.gov/report.

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Cox Media Group