575,000 retirement claims piled up at SSA after anti-fraud phone ban flagged less than 1% of applicants for fraud

The Social Security Administration (SSA) is important in the United States because it manages programs that financially support millions of Americans throughout their lives, such as retirement, disability, and survivors’ benefits. The SSA also assigns Social Security numbers, which are crucial for tracking earnings and providing benefits. A new announcement by the SSA highlights a new change in the application process once again, and it will affect one group specifically.

This is why the SSA announced a new change in the application process (again)

The SSA changed a vital factor of a recently announced anti-fraud plan, which resulted in widespread criticism from seniors and advocacy groups. A backlog in retirement claims and the encouragement of employees, whose ranks have decreased due to downsizing measures, to work “harder” to process those claims led to the change in plan.

Per CNN’s review of internal communications, the SSA gathered a backlog of more than 575,000 retirement applications, which include more than 140,000 that have been awaiting processing for 60 days or more. The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk, terminated 7,000 jobs in the SSA, and these downsizing efforts only aggravated the delays further.

The initial anti-fraud plan was to prohibit applicants from filing for benefits by telephone due to a lack of sufficient identity verification. Applicants were advised to confirm their identities via their online “my Social Security” account or visit a field office to complete the claim in person.

This is what the new change in the application process entails

Nextgov/FCW obtained an internal report that indicated that only two cases out of more than 110,000 claims were flagged with a high fraud probability, which is approximately 0.002% of all claims. Per the May document, not only did the anti-fraud checks delay retirement claims by 25%, but they also worsened customer service.

“It created a problem in customer service where one didn’t exist, and it didn’t do anything to prevent fraud.” – Kathleen Romig, director of Social Security and disability policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Critics were thus right, as the new policy quickly proved inefficient. Eventually, the intense public scrutiny led to the policy being changed. According to CNN‘s review of an email sent to employees, the SSA will no longer hold retirement benefit applications for three days for fraud review.

This group of beneficiaries will be affected by the new application process

Advocates argued that the new policy would make it more difficult for people to file their claims, especially those who aren’t computer-savvy or who don’t live near an agency office, such as low-income seniors, rural residents, and people with limited internet access. The new policy followed a related one ending beneficiaries’ ability to update their direct deposit information over the phone. Thanks to senior citizens and people with disabilities who flooded the SSA’s phone lines and field offices with concerns, the agency has to review its policy.

Almost two weeks later, the SSA declared that the anti-fraud policy would only apply to those filing for retirement, survivors, or family benefits over the phone. Its rollout would also be delayed by two weeks. The phone claims would be liable to a fraud review, and if abnormalities were identified, applicants would have to go to a field office to prove their identity.

We realize it is beginning to prove difficult to keep up with all the changes, especially as the SSA will continue to use data analytics and fraud detection algorithms, so make sure you are not a red flag for the SSA, or you will be subject to in-person verification. For the rest of the hundreds of thousands of seniors, your retirement applications should proceed without interruption.