(St. George, UT) - The Utah State Tax Commission has been made aware of some Utah taxpayers being asked to give their Social Security numbers over the telephone.

People will call someone and falsely claim to represent the Tax Commission. In the course of the conversation they will ask for the taxpayer’s social security number.

“It’s a scam - plain and simple,” said Charlie Roberts, spokesperson for the Tax Commission. “The Tax Commission would never ask for a social security number when calling a taxpayer,” Roberts said. When people share their Social Security number with an unknown person it leaves them wide open to identity theft, he added.

The Social Security Administration receives reports where individuals have been contacted by someone pretending to be an SSA employee. The intent of this type of call may be to steal your identity and/or money from your bank accounts. The caller generally asks you for personal information such as your Social Security number, date of birth, your mother's maiden name, or your bank or financial account information.

The impersonator may state that "the SSA computers are down" or may refer to enrollment in the Medicare prescription drug program. The intent of this type of call may be to steal your identity and/or money from your bank accounts. You should not provide any of this information to these individuals.

It is possible that an SSA employee may contact you to follow-up on a previous application for SSA/Medicare Part D benefits or to follow-up on other business you initiated with SSA. If you are unsure as to the authenticity of someone who claims to be an SSA employee, please call SSA's toll-free number, 1-800-772-1213, to verify the reason for the contact and the person's identity prior to providing any information to the caller.

If you wish to report a call from someone you suspect is impersonating an SSA employee, please provide us with the following details:

• Caller's alleged name

• Caller's telephone number

• Time and date the call was made

• Information requested by the caller

• Other identifying information or details about the content of the call

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Sources concerning SS Fraud:

Report suspected Social Security Fraud

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Identity theft, fraud or misuse of SS card