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As the OP says they are in Denmark, normally they should contact the US Embassy in Denmark for assistance. However the website for the Embassy in Denmark refers you to the one in Norway for its SSA Federal Benefits Unit (FBU)
I would not throw this away until you investigate this matter.
Things that come to mind: Could someone have been using your social security number to file claims?
There are other things that could cause this but either way I would contact the office, (not on the letter but look it up on your own) such as overpayments, change in your information you failed to provide and so forth.
You've been collecting for a long time. I have a friend who was getting disability and there was some issue (I don't know what exactly) related to the renewal of her claim. She may or may not have known about this, but the checks kept coming. Later she got her benefits reduced in some kind of a claw-back of overpaid benefits. Could it be something like that? I don't know whether she was guilty of fraud (knowingly blowing off renewal requirements?) or whether she was really clueless about some requirements... either way, SS wanted the dough back and they got it.
Another friend had her benefits reduced for a different reason. She was collecting spousal benefits before full retirement age and working part time. Above a certain income (not very high!) SS will reduce spousal payments if you're under full retirement age. It takes awhile though for SS to catch up with your income earning if you don't report it yourself. She went about a year and a half both collecting SS and also working, so the claw-back of over-payments was pretty steep for a while (I think she said they cut her benefit by half) until she'd paid back the over-payments.
I get social security disability, last year they reassessed my case to make sure I was still disabled. From what I remember, it was a 10 year review. I some how missed the envelope they sent in June, my deposit wasn't made in September which made me run over to my local office.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Returning2USA
52 years on welfare......
They only give 5 years max per person. Someone I know was on it; once their kid turned 5 it was cut. They told me they can never reapply for it which I don't believe because there are people on it longer then this person was.
Quote:
Originally Posted by WannaliveinGreenville
I would not throw this away until you investigate this matter.
Things that come to mind: Could someone have been using your social security number to file claims?
There are other things that could cause this but either way I would contact the office, (not on the letter but look it up on your own) such as overpayments, change in your information you failed to provide and so forth.
Agree. What if someone is using their SS number to collect benefits?
I was never disabled. I worked in the US from the age of 21-53, before I moved to Denmark. The US does not have a reciprocal agreement with Denmark regarding SS, so none of that work qualified for US SS benefits.
Can we take a timeout to clear up some confusion? I gather that several readers have assumed disability, since the OP stated...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Frihed89
I have been receiving benefits since 1967!
Thus, the comments about 52 years of payments. However, the author of OP subsequently clarified that....
Quote:
Originally Posted by Frihed89
I am not disabled, and I have always filed status changes through the SS office in Oslo, since I came to Denmark in 1996.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Frihed89
I was never disabled. I worked in the US from the age of 21-53, before I moved to Denmark. The US does not have a reciprocal agreement with Denmark regarding SS, so none of that work qualified for US SS benefits.
Is there a chance that "1967" was a typo? Or that "receiving benefits" really means "paying into Social Security since 1967?" If not, I don't understand what is going on (and suspect I am not alone)....
The letters are coming from the Office of Central Operations
They are withholding "overpaid social security benefits". I have been receiving benefits since 1967! The cuts are very large.
I am told to contact the Inspector General's Fraud Hotline, if I have questions. Fraud?
What's going on? Has anyone else received any of these letters.
Fraud is common.
So are mistakes.
From January 1940 through March 2014, Social Security used to publish something called the Social Security Death Index.
It was all the people died and were also receiving Social Security benefits. It was discontinued for identity theft reasons, but they do intend to resume publishing after a waiting period of 20 years.
Anyway, real live living flesh and blood people ended up on the Social Security Death Index due to a typographical error.
If you search the internet, you can read the horror stories and the lengths that these people had to go through to get their names removed from the Social Security Death Index.
All those people ultimately ended up getting their congress-critter and senators involved. In one instance it took 8 years to correct the mistake and it generally took several years to fix it.
If you don't understand the implications, the Death Index was published on CD-ROM and available to anyone willing to pay for it.
The three major credit reporting agencies were subscribers and they would upload the data to their credit files.
So, now your credit report shows you're dead, and your credit card issuers all cancel your credit cards.
You now have no credit cards, and you can't get new credit cards, because your credit report says you're dead.
Banks would close or freeze the accounts leaving them with no money.
Their mortgages and auto loans got screwed up, and often their cars were repossessed and they can't buy a new car, because their credit report says they're dead and they can't get money from their bank account.
Their employers are still withholding FICA payroll taxes, but that money is being credited to a general account instead of their account, so their wage histories are all screwed up.
Bureaucracies like Social Security are loathe to admit they made any error or committed any wrong-doing and at the first whiff of something wrong, they close ranks and march in lock-step.
Social Security adamantly refused to admit it made a mistake, and it took congressional involvement to ultimately fix it while those people suffered for years.
Anyway, the point is Social Security does make mistakes and a mistake could give the appearance that you have been fraudulently collecting benefits since 1967 when in fact you have not.
The primary responsibilities handled by the Office of Central Operations include maintainng and establishing the necessary records used in making decisions on Social Security Disability claims and appeals. The data compiled by the Office of Central Operations is used to help determine whether a Social Security Disability claim should be approved or denied. It is also used to determine if any changes should be made to Social Security Disability benefits; including raising, lowering, continuing or stopping.
The Office of Central Operations often helps with the collection of Social Security Disability benefits that have been overpaid. You can expect them to contact you if you have received Social Security Disability benefits to which you were not entitled. In such cases, you will receive a notice regarding how much you were overpaid, giving you some options regarding how you can take care of the matter.
The above is from the link!
Not regular SSA benefits then but based on retiring based on disability
That means a medical assessment
Call them
Call an attorney first that deals with issues like this
And look up the number on Google—not from the letter
Not regular SSA benefits then but based on retiring based on disability
That means a medical assessment
Call them
Call an attorney first that deals with issues like this
And look up the number on Google—not from the letter
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