--- title: "If You’re Retired, be Wary of This Scam | Phish Protection" description: "If you" image: "https://phishprotection.com/og/blog/if-youre-retired-be-wary-of-this-scam.png" canonical: "https://phishprotection.com/blog/if-youre-retired-be-wary-of-this-scam/" --- Quick Answer If you're a retired U.S. citizen, there's a pretty good chance you collect monthly Social Security benefits. And if you do, there's something you should know. \_Hackers are coming after your money.\_ Share [ ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fphishprotection.com%2Fblog%2Fif-youre-retired-be-wary-of-this-scam%2F "Share on LinkedIn") [ ](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=If%20You%26%238217%3Bre%20Retired%2C%20be%20Wary%20of%20This%20Scam&url=https%3A%2F%2Fphishprotection.com%2Fblog%2Fif-youre-retired-be-wary-of-this-scam%2F "Share on X/Twitter") [ ](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fphishprotection.com%2Fblog%2Fif-youre-retired-be-wary-of-this-scam%2F "Share on Facebook") [ ](https://reddit.com/submit?url=https%3A%2F%2Fphishprotection.com%2Fblog%2Fif-youre-retired-be-wary-of-this-scam%2F&title=If%20You%26%238217%3Bre%20Retired%2C%20be%20Wary%20of%20This%20Scam "Share on Reddit") [ ](mailto:?subject=If%20You%26%238217%3Bre%20Retired%2C%20be%20Wary%20of%20This%20Scam&body=Check out this article: https%3A%2F%2Fphishprotection.com%2Fblog%2Fif-youre-retired-be-wary-of-this-scam%2F "Share via Email") ![Phish Protection blog post image](https://media.mailhop.org/phishprotection/images/2020/01/phishing-attack-prevention-7650.jpg) If you’re a retired U.S. citizen, there’s a pretty good chance you collect monthly Social Security benefits. And if you do, there’s something you should know. _Hackers are coming after your money._ From an article on the [AARP](https://www.aarp.org/money/scams-fraud/info-2020/social-security-email.html) website, “_Crooks are turning to email as a way to steal Social Security benefits, often including official-looking attachments to make them seem legit_, a new warning from the government says.” First it was the phone, now it’s email. How bad it is? The Social Security Administration says it received more than **1,200 phishing complaints** a day for the period ending September 20, 2019\. That’s just the ones they know about. ![Phishing attack prevention](https://media.mailhop.org/phishprotection/images/2020/01/phishing-attack-prevention-7650.jpg) To make things more believable, according to AARP, “The fraudsters may threaten you with arrest or claim that they can increase your benefit in an effort to get you to send them money. Typically, they ask for payment via gift cards, cash, prepaid debit cards, wire transfers or even bitcoin.” That should be the first clue it’s a scam. _If someone is asking a retiree for bitcoin, it’s probably not legitimate_. _The Social Security Administration does remind retirees that they will never send an email asking the recipient to provide personal data_, “such as your Social Security number, date of birth or other private information.” Unfortunately, what the Social Security Administration doesn’t do is encourage retirees to purchase affordable, and _easily-deployable email security technology to protect themselves from phishing emails in the first place_. ![Anti phishing service](https://media.mailhop.org/phishprotection/images/2020/01/anti-phishing-service-5698.jpg) For just pennies per user per month, cloud-based [Phish Protection](/) software sniffs out **phishing emails** like the ones in this Social Security scam and keeps them out of the user’s inbox. And if it’s not in the inbox, it can’t do any harm. If you’re a retiree, be smart by being suspicious of any email claiming to be from or about your Social Security benefits. If you’re a retiree and you want to be really smart, _protect yourself from Social Security scammers and every other type of scammer by protecting yourself with easy-to-use [Phish Protection software](/products/advanced-threat-defense/)_. You worked too hard all those years to put your retirement at risk. ## Topics [ Phishing Awareness ](/tags/phishing-awareness/) ![Brad Slavin](https://media.mailhop.org/phishprotection/images/authors/brad-slavin.jpg) [ Brad Slavin ](/authors/brad-slavin/) General Manager Founder and General Manager of DuoCircle. Product strategy and commercial lead across DuoCircle's 2,000+ customer base. [LinkedIn Profile →](https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradslavin) ## Protect your inbox from phishing attacks Real-time email security with 60-day free trial. No credit card required. [Start Free Trial](https://portal.duocircle.com/cart.php?a=add&pid=101&brand=phishprotection) [View Pricing](/pricing/) ## Related Articles [ Foundational 5m 0ktapus, Okta Breach Helps Attackers Launch Sophisticated Supply Chain Attacks Sep 5, 2022 ](/blog/0ktapus-okta-breach-helps-attackers-launch-sophisticated-supply-chain-attacks/)[ Foundational 14m 12 Real-World Spear Phishing Examples And The Red Flags You Missed Feb 4, 2026 ](/blog/12-real-world-spear-phishing-examples-and-the-red-flags-you-missed/)[ Foundational 2m 8 million Android users fell prey to SpyLoan malware on Google Play Store Dec 5, 2024 ](/blog/8-million-android-users-fell-prey-to-spyloan-malware-on-google-play-store/)[ Foundational 1m A Big Part of the Phishing Problem is You Sep 17, 2019 ](/blog/a-big-part-of-the-phishing-problem-is-you/) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Organization","name":"Phish Protection","url":"https://phishprotection.com","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://phishprotection.com/images/phishprotection-logo.png"},"description":"Advanced phishing protection and email security for businesses. 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