Social Security Establishes a Fraud Prevention Unit

The Social Security Administration “SSA” announced this week that it has created a centralized fraud prevention unit in New York City to identify fraudulent activity in the Social Security Disability system nationwide. The unit will initially have 20 disability examiners. They will be tasked with reviewing cases and analyzing current fraud trends to prevent new cases of fraud from happening in the Social Security Disability system. The analysts in this unit are currently re-reviewing the disability medical decisions resulting from recent indictments in Puerto Rico and New York City.

 We are pleased to see the development of a fraud unit.  Individuals who try to cheat the Social Security Disability system should be prosecuted for taking fraudulent measures to achieve benefits. The actions of these few bad apples affect every truly disabled claimant out there because the exploits by these unethical individuals cause our county, the media and Congress to attack this valuable Federal program.

If you know of someone who is committing fraud in the Social Security Disability System, contact the Social Security Office of the Inspector General at 1-800-269-0271, or visit http://oig.ssa.gov and click on “Report Fraud, Waste, or Abuse.”

In addition, SSA is taking greater measures to protect the identity and private information of the claimants. Since January 2014, SSA is adding security questions to its screening process for callers who are requesting information on a claim. Historically, SSA would ask a caller to verify basic biographical information like birth date, address and phone number. Now SSA is asking callers to confirm the place of birth and the mother’s maiden name of the claimant before revealing any information about the status of the claim to an authorized representative. Thus, Cari and I may be asking you to verify this information with us, so SSA will communicate with us via telephone on your claim.

Got a question that you need answered? Please check out our website at www.westcoastdisability.com . We try to provide you with valuable information on our website that may help you navigate the Social Security Disability process. Also, feel free to shoot us an email at info@westcoastdisability.com or call us at (800) 459-3017.