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Description

Detects messages impersonating the Social Security Administration (SSA) that contain links, a suspicious indicator, and are sent from non-government domains by unsolicited or suspicious senders.

References

No references.

Sublime Security
Created Aug 26th, 2025 • Last updated Dec 2nd, 2025
Source
type.inbound
and length(attachments) < 2
// Identifies as SSA without catching strings such as "Alyssa"
and (
  regex.contains(sender.display_name, '^SSA\b')
  or strings.icontains(sender.display_name, "Social Security Administration")
  // there are confusables in the display name
  or (
    strings.replace_confusables(sender.display_name) != sender.display_name
    and strings.contains(strings.replace_confusables(sender.display_name),
                         "SSA"
    )
  )
  or any([sender.display_name, subject.subject],
         regex.icontains(strings.replace_confusables(.),
                         'Social (?:benefits|security)',
         )
  )
  or (
    any(attachments,
        .file_type in ("doc", "docx")
        and any(file.explode(.),
                strings.icontains(.scan.strings.raw,
                                  "Social Security Administration"
                )
        )
    )
  )
  // display name or subject references a statement
  or (
    any([sender.display_name, subject.subject],
        regex.icontains(strings.replace_confusables(.),
                        '(Digital|(e[[:punct:]]?))\s?Statements?.{0,10}(Generated|Created|Issued|Ready)'
        )
    )
    // with SSA impersonation in the body
    and strings.icontains(body.current_thread.text,
                          'Social Security Administration'
    )
  )
  or any(html.xpath(body.html, '//title').nodes,
       (
         strings.icontains(.inner_text, 'Social Security')
         and (
           strings.icontains(.inner_text, 'Statement')
           or strings.icontains(.inner_text, 'Notification')
           or strings.icontains(.inner_text, 'Document')
           or strings.icontains(.inner_text, 'Message')
           or strings.icontains(.inner_text, 'Important Update')
           or strings.icontains(.inner_text, 'Benefit Amount')
           or strings.icontains(.inner_text, 'Account')
           or strings.icontains(.inner_text, 'Authorization')
         )
       )
       or .inner_text =~ "Social Security Administration"
       or .inner_text =~ "Social Security"
  )
)

// Not from a .gov domain
and not (sender.email.domain.tld == "gov" and headers.auth_summary.dmarc.pass)

// Additional suspicious indicator
and (
  any(ml.nlu_classifier(body.current_thread.text).topics,
      .name == "Secure Message" and .confidence == "high"
  )
  or strings.icontains(body.current_thread.text, "SSA Statement Viewer")
  or strings.icontains(body.current_thread.text, "Social Security Statement")
  or regex.icontains(body.current_thread.text,
                     "(?:view|open) (?:your|the).{0,8} (statement|document)"
  )
  // real SSA phone number
  or strings.icontains(body.current_thread.text, "1-800-772-1213")
  or any(body.links,
         any(regex.extract(.href_url.path, '\.(?P<ext>[^./?#]+)(?:[?#]|$)'),
             .named_groups["ext"] in $file_extensions_executables
         )
  )
  or any(ml.logo_detect(file.message_screenshot()).brands,
         .name == "SSA" and .confidence == "high"
  )
  or (
    any(attachments,
        .file_type in ("doc", "docx")
        and any(file.explode(.),
                strings.icontains(.scan.strings.raw, "suspended")
                or strings.icontains(.scan.strings.raw, "fraudulent")
                or strings.icontains(.scan.strings.raw, "violated")
                or strings.icontains(.scan.strings.raw, "false identity")
                or regex.icontains(.scan.strings.raw,
                                   '\+?([ilo0-9]{1}.)?\(?[ilo0-9]{3}?\)?.[ilo0-9]{3}.?[ilo0-9]{4}',
                                   '\+?([ilo0-9]{1,2})?\s?\(?\d{3}\)?[\s\.\-⋅]{0,5}[ilo0-9]{3}[\s\.\-⋅]{0,5}[ilo0-9]{4}'
                )
        )
    )
  )
)
and not any(ml.nlu_classifier(body.current_thread.text).topics,
            .name in (
              "Newsletters and Digests",
              "Advertising and Promotions",
              "Events and Webinars"
            )
            and .confidence == "high"
)
// not a forward or reply
and (headers.in_reply_to is null or length(headers.references) == 0)
and (
  not profile.by_sender().solicited
  or (
    profile.by_sender().any_messages_malicious_or_spam
    and not profile.by_sender().any_messages_benign
  )
)
and not (
  sender.email.domain.root_domain in $high_trust_sender_root_domains
  and coalesce(headers.auth_summary.dmarc.pass, false)
)
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