The Social Security Administration (SSA) in the United States has recently announced the cancellation of a plan to terminate phone services for millions of Americans applying for retirement and disability benefits. This decision comes after the proposal for this change was reported by The Washington Post, with the aim of eliminating potential fraud activities.
To address the issue of fraud, the government will be implementing more limited modifications, including the cancellation of the option to change direct deposit information over the phone. The original proposal would have required elderly and disabled individuals to rely on online services or visit in-person offices to handle their applications. This could have disrupted the agency’s ability to serve the public at large, as the government’s toll-free phone number has been a crucial resource for elderly customers who may not have access to or knowledge of using the internet.
Prior to the Social Security Administration’s decision to abandon this widely impactful plan, experts and officials voiced criticism, expressing concerns that terminating the plan would jeopardize the ability of millions of Americans to receive their benefits.
Nevertheless, the government will continue to make smaller-scale revisions to prevent changing direct deposit information over the phone. The government’s reasoning behind this decision is that approximately 40% of Social Security direct deposit fraud is related to phone transactions.
This information was referenced from a report by The Washington Post.