What is this scam? How do I determine if this is a scam?

Social security robocalls are a frightening type of scam. You receive a robocall, and suddenly, an angry person on the other end is threatening you. It's the Social Security Administration, and they need you to provide some personal information because their computers are down. Or -- you were overpaid and you need to pay it back immediately. Or -- your check isn't coming until you give some information to the caller. These are all scams! These scams have successfully extracted millions of dollars from Americans. Social security scams are especially dangerous to seniors and people on disability. Many of these folks are entirely dependent on their SSA income, so it causes great panic to hear they won't get their check as expected. This panic unfortunately leads to making payments or providing information to scammers. Remember -- the SSA doesn't call people to request money -- end of story. Any call you receive from the SSA requesting money or personal information is guaranteed to be a scam. The SSA, like most US government agencies, prefers to communicate by written mail.