i know of a few investigations by social security in this area where they used photos from facebook to discredit the recipient. they went after people who were on ssdi for psychological reasons. according to them if you were sitting on a motorcycle in your driveway, or on a trip it proved you werent depressed or had ptsd..
some of the assertions based on the photos used were very weak in my opinion.

lilly 444 dont let anyone you dont know in your house. if they want to ask questions about anything or say they are there for a law enforcement reason such as a lost or stolen credit card, tell them your husband will contact them.

I am very distressed by what I am reading in this thread. I would be so outraged if someone made up fictitious stuff about me for any reason in any setting, not just in reviewing a SS case of continuing eligibility.

My biggest pet peeve in life is being lied to (or about) at any time. NOTHING upsets me more than a liar.

I sure hope some civil action is taken against these individuals. It is one thing to document someone's actions in public, but to fabricate false information and cause harm to someone is just outrageous. I can just imagine the mental anguish.

I realize that privacy is no longer available in our society and that surveillance cameras abound in public but I would be very upset if I saw someone taking my photograph in my robe when I retrieve my mail on my own property which I do regularly. Dressing is difficult for me, so I go to my mailbox in a robe most of the time. I would be livid if I saw someone taking a photo of me in such a state.

Almost any photo taken of me would substantiate my lack of function and ability but I still would not like anyone taking photos of me in my robe or the manner one would probably find me. I don't even allow family to take photos of me (even when I am properly attired).

I am so sorry for anyone that is put through the things that lilly444 was subjected to in her post. While I understand the need to ferret out fraud, this was NOT done in a proper and objective manner.

Do you if the investigations you're referring to were performed by CDIU staff or private investigators like in Lilly's case?

*very disturbed* by what I am reading.

no i dont know if it was cdiu staff or private investigators that were involved.

the ridiculous part is using some of these photos to say you dont look depressed enough or are not suffereing from post traumatic stress. are we under house arrest now? part of the therapy for some of these psychological disorders is to get out and do things even though you may not really want to.


thinking about it today, i think lilly should file a civilian complaint against the two detectives with the police agency they work for, for using their official position to falsely gain entrance to her house for work which had nothing to do with their official position.

I agree.

The ALJ should notify the CDIU not to use those private investigator's in the future.

It would seemingly be better for the CDIU to hire and train enough staff. Local private Investigators will only bill more hours if they can show evidence of fraud, which gives them an incentive to manufacture evidence.

She might want to contact an attorney in a different county if she wants to pursue a civil case against them, since local attorneys might be afraid of going after local law enforcement.

The reality is I doubt I'd be up for such a fight, and that's likely what they're counting on.

Ironically, CDIU's largest and most successful bust last year was convicting a ring of law enforcement and fire fighters in NY making fraudulent SSDI claims. SMH.

ALJ told attorney they are under pressure this year to get backlog of cases cleared and number of new applications is at an all time high....so they've resorted to hiring outside sources to work for them.
The police they used do not work in the same county or city I live.
I have no fight left in me. I want my decision and see where we go from there.

At the very least, I would like to be allowed to write a letter to the office and explain why sending 2 male officers into the home of a mentally disabled woman with a history of sexual assault (and lying about it) was a very bad idea. Very damaging. I'm going to counselor on Tuesday for help with how to go about this.

Thank you Hopeless, echoes and Lit Love for your support. I hope you all have a good day.

If you have documentation of the manufactured evidence .. another option is write/email copies of that and a short story of what happened to you and send to your state senators/representatives/congresspersons. state & federal.

They need to know this kind of thing is happening, and if you know the names of these so called investigators.. add that..


you could even wait til your decision to send it , but writing it out and save on pc is a good idea.. just in case..

I can certainly appreciate your statement that you have no fight left in you. The battle with whatever our afflictions is more than enough without having more heaped upon us.

I can not even begin to imagine how you have been affected by this situation and the "home invasion" by the investigators.

Just reading about your experience shakes me up and makes me distraught. I can't imagine living through it personally. My heart goes out to you.

One does not have to have had your past experiences and current conditions to be upset about having two men enter your home when you are alone and female. This would be an upsetting situation for someone with NO mental disability or prior trauma in their life.

You are courageous to have dealt with the experience as well as you have and I hope your counselor will help you through this ordeal.

I know you are not up to it, especially not right now, but I do hope SOMEONE will take some action and report this occurrence. Maybe your counselor can contact an appropriate source to prevent this from ever happening again to anyone.

Thank you for sharing your experience with us and I hope that in time, you will be able to put this away from your thoughts and heal.