by Andrew Cannarsa, OIG Communications Director

​The Acting Inspector General of Social Security, Gale Stallworth Stone, is warning citizens about a new Social Security Administration (SSA) employee impersonation scheme.  SSA and its Office of the Inspector General (OIG) have recently alerted citizens about an OIG employee impersonation scheme and a scheme targeting former clients of Kentucky disability attorney Eric Conn; the agencies are now receiving reports from citizens across the country about other phone calls from an individual posing as an SSA employee.  The caller attempts to acquire personally identifiable information from victims to then edit the victims’ direct deposit, address, and telephone information with SSA.
The reports indicate that the impersonator calls from a telephone number with a 323 area code.  The caller claims to be an SSA employee, and in some instances, tells the victim that they are due a 1.7 percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) increase of their Social Security benefits.  The impersonator goes on to ask the victim to verify all of their personal information including their name, date of birth, Social Security number (SSN), parents’ names, etc. to receive the increase.  If the impersonator is successful in acquiring this information, they use it to contact SSA and request changes to the victim’s direct deposit, address, and telephone information.
SSA employees occasionally contact citizens by telephone for customer-service purposes.  In only a few limited special situations, usually already known to the citizen, an SSA employee may request the citizen confirm personal information over the phone.  If a person receives a suspicious call from someone alleging to be from SSA, citizens may report that information to the OIG at 1-800-269-0271 or online via https://oig.ssa.gov/report.
Acting Inspector General Stone continues to warn citizens to be cautious, and to avoid providing information such as your SSN or bank account numbers to unknown persons over the phone or internet unless you are certain of who is receiving it.  “You must be very confident that the source is the correct business party, and your information will be secure after you release it,” Stone said.
If a person has questions about any communication—email, letter, text or phone call—that claims to be from SSA or the OIG, please contact your local Social Security office, or call Social Security’s toll-free customer service number at 1-800-772-1213, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday, to verify its legitimacy.  (Those who are deaf or hard-of-hearing can call Social Security’s TTY number at 1-800-325-0778.)
 

Independent Living Month (ILM) is an observance held in July to educate the public about the importance of living independently for people with disabilities.
ILM highlights the concepts of the Independent Living Movement: equality, independence, freedom, self-determination, and choice for people with disabilities. The monthly long campaign highlights the various advocacy campaigns our community is engaged in, National Disability Voter Registration Month and the Americans with Disabilities Act 27th Anniversary.
For more information on the observance, click here to download the toolkit.
Social Media Toolkit:
The toolkit includes sample social media messages. Each week of #ILM2017 focuses on a different aspect of the Independent Living Movement:

• I Am Self-Determination. My Independence Means
  Having Access to Healthcare. (July 1st to July 14th) Share your Medicaid Matters story:
  https://scdd.ca.gov/tell-us-your-medicaid-story/
• I Am Doing My Part: My Vote Matters.
  National Disability Voter Registration Week (July 17th-21st) Check out AAPD's National Rev Up Campaign.
• I am the Americans with Disabilities Act. Celebrating 27th Anniversary of the ADA. (July 24th-31st) Use the hashtags: #ADALegacy and #ADA2017

To download the toolkit, click here.
How to Participate:

• Add the Independent Living Month 2017 filter your profile photo: https://twibbon.com/Support/independent-living-month
• Add the Independent Living Month banner to your organization's Facebook/Twitter cover or website. Images available online: Download the ToolkitShare resources and disability history all month long using #ILM2017 and #IAmSelfDetermination.

 
ILM is hosted in a partnership with the California Foundation for Independent Living Centers (CFILC), Disability Rights California (DRC), the State Independent Living Council (SILC) and the California Department of Rehabilitation (DOR).

Visit the Independent Living Month page…

Disability Organizing Network
1000 G Street, Suite 100
Sacramento, CA 95814
Hours of Operation:
8:00am to 5:00pm PST
Phone:
877-427-0387 Voice | 800-900-0706 TDD

​

     "Touch the Sound"

Wednesday, August 16, 1:00-3:00 pm    

​(Dir. T. Riedelsheimer, 2004, 1:29) Evelyn Glennie, a profoundly deaf classical percussionist  from Scotland, reveals how sound is something that can be felt and experienced regardless of the inability to hear. Glennie is featured performing around the world and reminiscing on her life in this award-winning film.  

      "Titicut Follies" 
​
​Wednesday, September 27, 1:00-3:00 pm

(Dir. Frederick Wiseman, 1964, 1:27) This 1964 film documented conditions at the State Prison for The Criminally Insane in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, shedding light on its inhumane physical environment and treatment of inmates by guards and medical staff.   

​On Tuesday, June 6, Center for Independence hosted an Emergency Preparedness Event for Seniors and Individuals with Disabilities at the Menlo Park Senior Center. Attendees listened to presentations by the Menlo Park Fire Protection District, American Red Cross, County of San Mateo, and Center for Independence. There were also information booths from SMC Alert, California Clubhouse, Red Cross, and Home Safety Services.
 
About 65 individuals attended the event to hear about how seniors and individuals can prepare for an emergency. We passed out goodie bags which included many items that individuals can use in an emergency, including a flashlight, emergency blanket, first aid kit, and water. We raffled off 2-day and 3-day emergency kits, which have enough supplies to keep someone safe after an emergency hits.
 
The event was a great success. We are thankful for the Menlo Park Senior Center for hosting us, all of our presenters and vendors, and the City of Menlo Park for sponsoring the event. We are looking forward to our next Emergency Preparedness Event later this year in San Bruno. Stay tuned for more information to come!

At the Ability Tools Northern California Meeting last week, Be My Eyes perform a demonstration of their amazing App that connects people with vision impairments with a volunteer who will explain what their device camera is showing them. This app is only in IOS(Apple) platform at this time, but they are working on getting the app for the Android phone platform. We have this app at our office and we can provide demonstrations upon request.Please watch the embedded video that explains how it works.
Here is a link to their video