My Civil Advocate

Depending on who you talk to, Social Security Disability (SSD) fraud is either running rampant or it's a fairly infrequent occurrence - more likely, it's somewhere in between. The bottom line is that it happens. Fraudulent claims anywhere across the country can be detrimental to your legitimate claim in a number of ways: Getting your claim approved becomes more difficult. The social security administration doesn't like it when it finds out that numerous people are poaching the system and making off with undeserved benefits. The SSA clamps down on approvals throughout the country, which doesn't bode well even for legitimate claims. Benefits are denied to those who need them most. When people bilk the system, the federal government is less likely to provide the necessary funding to cover SSD benefits in all states. It drags out case processing times. Processing times are already extraordinarily drawn out. When great chunks of time are spent on fraudulent claims, it m...

Identity theft is a personal violation with potentially severe consequences for the victim. Immediate action can make a difficult situation more bearable: Contact the "big 3" credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian, and the TransUnion. Get a copy of your credit report from each agency; review them thoroughly for accuracy and suspicious activity. Ask the agencies to a fraud alert and to attach it to your report. Call the police. Fill out a crime report at your local police department. Document who you talk to, phone numbers, dates, and time. Obtain copies of the police report; creditors will likely want to review it. Close out accounts that have been fraudulently accessed... or might soon be. Contact all creditors, banks, credit card companies, and other service providers with whom there has been fraudulent activity. Request that creditors report closed accounts as "closed at consumer's request." Stop payment on checks. If you've had checks stolen, contact o...