Following-up on my post about National Disability Benefits, I've decided to post a guide for people to avoid becoming a victim of disability scams.
I've tried to make this guide as easy to follow as possible. But, since you are trusting these people with your personal information, as well as your hopes of receiving disability benefits, you could greatly benefit from following the advice that I've given.
Check the Website
If someone sends you a link to click on, which will take you to a website where you will enter some personal information - name, age, telephone number, email address, etc - in order to apply for assistance, it is very simple to check to find out exactly who is the registered owner of the website.
Okay, for example, you get a website like https://www.disabilitybenefits.com
Use a WhoIs site, like
- Domain Tools https://whois.domaintools.com/
- Network Solutions https://www.networksolutions.com/whois
Enter the website disabilitybenefits.com in the Search bar, ignoring the https://www part of the link. The search results will tell you who the registered owner of the site actually is, along with an address. If the website's owner is using a service that allows them to keep themselves anonymous (i.e. concealing their name and/or address) then you shouldn't trust those people, because they are obviously trying to conceal their identity from you.
The same thing applies if they use a link like https://www.disabilitybenefits.com/abcdefg
Ignore everything after the / mark, so /abcdefg is irrelevant to determining the identity of the site owner, Just do the WhoIs search as I have already described.
If the people behind the website are legitimate, they would not have the need to conceal their identity or location from you. So, if they withhold their name and real location from you, you should not trust them.
Got an Address?
While I was investigation National Disability Benefits, I found an actual street address mentioned on their website. This was a rare find, especially since they had registered their website anonymously.
If you actually manage to get a street address on the people you are trusting to help you get disability benefits, a simple Google search can be helpful. In order to get the best results, you should puts ""s around the address when you do your search.
"123 Anyplace Street Suite 123 Anytown, AnyState 123456" gets a better result with quotes than without.
Simply copy the entire address and paste it into the Google search bar. The search results should display any individual or business associated with that street address. As I discovered with National Disability Benefits, you may learn that the address is also/has been used by an Internet marketing firm.
Do not trust anyone whose address is shared with an Internet marketing firm because they could use the information that you give them as part of of a marketing campaign. They could sell or share your information with anyone they wish and you could find you could find yourself receiving calls, texts and emails from companies who are trying to sell you something.
How to Apply for Disability Benefits
At the federal level, the Social Security Administration (SSA) has a webpage where you can begin the application process https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/disability/
Only five states have State Disability Insurance programs, which are funded by mandatory deductions from an employee's paycheck: California, Hawaii, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island. These benefits are meant to partially replace wages lost when you are too ill, injured off the job and unable to work.
Here are the links to individual states' official websites where you can learn how to apply for disability benefits:
California https://www.edd.ca.gov/disability/
Hawaii https://labor.hawaii.gov/dcd/
New Jersey https://www.myleavebenefits.nj.gov/
New York http://www.wcb.ny.gov/content/main/DisabilityBenefits/employee-disability-benefits.jsp
Rhode Island https://dlt.ri.gov/tdi/
Other states only provide disability benefits for state employees. I suggest that you contact the Department of Labor in your state to see if there is something available to help you.
In the event that you live in one of the five states I mentioned above and you were denied benefits for some reason, you can try to appeal the decision or you may have to contact an attorney. If you need an attorney, contact your local state Bar association for recommendations.
See? You don't have to provide your contact information to some anonymously-registered website to find out how you can apply for disability benefits. The resources are already out there for you!
As an added bonus, the federal and state governments won't be sharing or selling your information to Internet marketing companies.
Duane Browning
Venmo: @Duane-Browning-1
CashApp: $DuaneBrowning
