The U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General sent a warning to workplaces on Friday that hybrid scams are on the rise and that workers should be alert to messages from fraudulent Social Security Administration employees.

Scammers’ tactics include using fake emails and text messages from Amazon or PayPal technical support to connect users with a fraudulent SSA agent, who then tries to convince users that their Social Security number or Social Security record has been compromised, the inspector general’s alert said.

The first email or text message usually claims that something is wrong with a person’s Amazon or PayPal account. When attempting to fix the alleged problems, the scammer states that while searching the person’s computer, they found other problems, mainly with their Social Security number. The scammer then offers to help the person by directing them to someone claiming to be from the SSA.

“This type of ‘long-term fraud’ is particularly heinous; other agencies refer to these scams as ‘pig slaughter’ because they are designed to drain you of all your funds,” Anthony Monaco, special agent in charge of the Social Security Administration, said in a statement.

This type of “hybrid fraud” is part of a new trend in which fraudsters develop trust over time, according to the Office of the Inspector General.

These scammers also often leverage detailed information they have collected on their victims, who are typically of retirement age. The scam often ends with a face-to-face meeting with a person who is either part of the scheme or an unsuspecting participant, such as an Uber driver, where the victim is asked to hand over gold, cash, a crypto wallet, or other currency for “safekeeping” at the direction of a rogue SSA OIG federal agent.

In April, an incident occurred in which a woman in Ohio withdrew over $500,000 from her retirement savings to buy gold and handed the money over to scammers who showed up at her home after a similar “long-running scam” involving the SSA and other government scammers.

According to the SSA, Social Security employees contact the public by phone for business reasons. Typically, the agency calls people who recently applied for Social Security benefits, are already receiving payments and need an update on their records, or have requested a call from the agency.

If there is a problem with a person’s Social Security number or Social Security records, the SSA usually sends a letter.

For more information on the signs of a scam and the tactics used by scammers, visit the SSA website.