The Social Security Administration (SSA) and its Office of the Inspector General (OIG) today announced the opening of three new Cooperative Disability Investigations (CDI) Units across the country. The new units—opened in Albuquerque, New Mexico; Honolulu, Hawaii; and Indianapolis, Indiana—will identify, investigate and prevent Social Security disability fraud throughout their respective states as part of the nationwide CDI Program.
The announcement comes after four warnings this year alone to seniors from the SSA about fraudulent Social Security and Medicare communications targeting their benefits and their wallets.
According to the SSA, fraud represents a very small percentage of its overall payments. Still, because the agency’s benefit programs are so far-reaching and complex, it faces the ongoing challenge of protecting those programs from fraud. To meet that challenge, the SSA works closely with the OIG, which Congress designated as the agency lead for fraud detection and prevention.