Get married. Have a baby. Turn 60 or 62. Retire from work. Pass these milestones of life, and soon you’ll likely receive a “friendly” letter.
Ignore it. The writer is after your money.
The letter or letters–you may receive three or four–are not actually scams. What they offer is not illegal. They just want you to spend money with them you don’t need to spend.
For $15 or so, the letters will offer to help you obtain new Social Security cards or obtain a statement of your Social Security earnings, taxes and benefits. But why pay $15 when you can get the cards or information for free?
For the location, hours of operation and phone number of your local Social Security office, call the Social Security toll-free at 800-772-1213.
People approaching retirement, or who are already retired, should be especially wary of offers to help obtain statements of their Social Security earnings and taxes paid during their work life and estimates of what their benefits will be in retirement.
If you think a firm is using Social Security to mislead you, you may report it to this address: Social Security Administration, Office of Communications, Misleading Information, P.O. Box 17740, Baltimore, Md. 21235.
The agency also operates an Internet site that provides a wide range of information about Social Security. The site’s address is http://www.ssa.gov.
