Social Security backs off plan to cut phone services after backlash

The Social Security Administration on Wednesday abruptly backed off planned cuts to phone services amid an uproar from advocates for retirees and disabled Americans.

The changes, scheduled to take effect on Monday, would have directed anyone filing for retirement or disability benefits, or for direct deposit changes, to first verify their identity online or in person instead of over the phone - a policy that advocates said would shut out many disabled and elderly customers. The agency also acknowledged that the hastily announced proposal had triggered a wave of scammers who are contacting retirees and pretending to be part of the proposed identification efforts.

“We’ll have a more appropriate solution that works for advocates and works for the public,” a senior Social Security official said. He conceded that the new rules had sown confusion and anxiety, with many in the public wrongly believing they could only validate their identity in person.

The senior official said the agency hopes to find a secure solution that will allow its customers to continue to validate their accounts and identities with Social Security staff on the phone. “It’s about getting to a good outcome to fight fraud and provide service,” the official said.

The sudden U-turn comes as acting commissioner Leland Dudek - directed by a team of Elon Musk-led software engineers that has taken an outsize role at Social Security headquarters - has raced to downsize and root out alleged fraud at the agency that administers retirement, survivor and disability benefits to 73 million Americans. The rapid-fire moves have sent the agency into crisis as it struggles with worsening wait times for phone and in-person service, website crashes and other serious customer service problems.

Social Security leaders had said the changes would safeguard the system against fraudulent activity - a claim many experts said is exaggerated since retirees and disabled people do not generally try to game the system at the front end. The identity proofing was one of several new rules Dudek has announced during his six-week tenure that have set off widespread confusion.

The new mandates also faced possible legal action from disability advocates, who told Dudek that the policies would violate disabled people’s rights to government services.

Officials with the American Federation for the Blind also said the online mandate would violate the terms of a consent decree the group reached with the Biden administration in October that allows digital signatures on claims applications. Eve Hill, the group’s general counsel, said these already have significant authentication requirements

“This change has a huge, disparate impact on people with disabilities,” many of whom cannot file claims online or in person, Hill said. The group met with Dudek late Tuesday before the agency changed course.

It is not clear when updated identity verification and direct deposit policies might debut, although Dudek told his staff in a meeting Wednesday that he hopes for a two-week turnaround. By that point, the Senate may have confirmed the appointment of Frank Bisignano, President Donald Trump’s nominee to run Social Security, who could be the one to decide on any changes.

Dudek has backtracked on several other initiatives, including reneging on a new requirement that Maine residents apply in person for Social Security numbers for their newborns and to report deaths - a process normally done electronically by funeral homes. Last week, the White House ordered Dudek to back down on a threat to shut down agency operations after a federal judge ordered him to deny access to Musk’s team. And a plan to eliminate the ability to file any claims by phone circulated but was not adopted.

Social Security leaders also told staff in some departments Wednesday that the rollout of the proposed verification program was being delayed because the technological infrastructure needed to support it is not ready, according to an employee briefed on the matter, who like other staffers spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation. That’s in large part because the teams that would have worked on developing the online part of the system have been decimated by the Musk-led efforts to shrink Social Security staffing, the employee said.

“There is not enough people, not enough contractors,” the employee said. “People have left, taken early retirement. The expertise is just not there to get it done anymore.”

The identification changes would have added new burdens for an already thin field and phone staff that had yet to be trained on how to carry out the rules. Front-line employees are struggling to keep up with a surge in phone calls and walk-in visits as the poorly communicated changes have caused turmoil.

More pushback came from the White House, which recently told agency officials that if Social Security was going to proceed with cuts to phone services it would also have to make online interactions more convenient at the same time, according to the employee.

Since the identification verification policy was announced, scammers have jumped at the opportunity to try to steal elderly Americans’ financial information, according to interviews with a half-dozen staffers, recipients and records obtained by The Washington Post.

Some field office staff exchanged emails last week warning that seniors were receiving emails from people posing as Social Security representatives “saying they need to respond to … verify their identity to keep receiving benefits,” according to messages obtained by The Post.

One scam message sent March 24 and obtained by The Post came from an email account named “Social Security Administrator.” It asked the recipient to click a link to download a “Social Security Statement” to “ensure the accuracy of your earnings record.” The email was well-formatted and looked official. The only way to tell it was fake was to notice that the sender’s email address did not end in “ssa.gov,” the official government website url for Social Security.

At a meeting Monday with about 50 disability and retiree advocates, Delma Cardona, the assistant deputy commissioner of operations, told the group that “fraudsters are trying to take advantage of this confusion” over the proposed identity policy. She asked for help “spreading the word” to their members to be careful not to answer suspicious text messages, according to two people in attendance. The advocates reiterated their concerns that the policy was unnecessary and being rolled out too quickly.

“We’re hearing from people who think this is already the policy, and they’re terrified and confused,” said Kate Lang, director of federal income security at Justice in Aging, a national nonprofit group that advocates for low-income older Americans. “They think someone from SSA is contacting them … The agency’s own actions are setting people up to be scammed.”

Advocates have told the agency that identity verification efforts are already strong, including a multistage phone interview process.

An email went to staff in some regional and field offices Monday and Tuesday outlining how employees were supposed to prepare for the identification program’s swift-approaching debut. The email, a copy of which was reviewed by The Post, described the changes as meant to “reduce the risk of identity fraud and safeguard payments.”

The email said “front line” staff in field offices would begin receiving mandatory training on how to handle the new system as early as Wednesday, although one employee in an Indiana field office said no further communications have gone out about the promised training and no actual trainings have taken place.

The email asked employees to “remain vigilant against the various tactics employed by fraudsters” and listed a variety of “verbal cues” staffers should watch for to detect suspicious activity, including a caller who “has difficulty answering questions” or repeatedly says, “Sorry, I cannot hear you.”

The email also acknowledged the proposed alterations to service might be disruptive.

“While these measures are designed to reduce fraud and improper payments, they may lead to increased foot traffic in field offices and longer wait times for services,” the email stated.