KINGSTON - Ulster County residents should be aware that a man with a thick accent has been making unauthorized calls recently asking for personal information such as Social Security numbers and banking information.

According to the District Attorney’s Consumer Fraud Bureau and the Office for the Aging, the caller states that since the Social Security Administration will be issuing new cards he needs the verifying information.

The caller proceeds to ask for the person’s bank account information and states that if the information is not supplied the person’s next Social Security check will not be deposited in the proper account.

Residents should know that government agencies do not call to obtain personal information, the Consumer Fraud Bureau warned. To issue new Social Security cards to everyone who is a Social Security recipient would be very costly and time consuming, the agency said.

“County residents should be cautious if anyone calls and asks for personal information,” said County Legislature Chairman David Donaldson. “If someone calls you soliciting personal information, let your red flags go up and ask the question, ‘Why is this person calling me?’” Donaldson said. “Ask for their name and telephone number. And then call the number back and see if they really work for the agency. Call the agency to obtain additional information or to report the suspicious call.”

For more information, contact the District Attorney’s Consumer Fraud Bureau at 845-340-3260 or the Office for the Aging at 340-3456.