Money

Some Social Security beneficiaries rely on organizations like non-profits or nursing homes to help them manage their benefits. The Social Security Administration monitors these organizations to ensure benefits are not being misused. Yet SSA does not require background checks for key employees of such organizations as it does for relatives or friends that assist beneficiaries. In addition, SSA accounting forms make it difficult to track in detail how these funds are spent. We made 9 recommendations, including that SSA redesign its accounting forms and look into requiring background checks for employees at these organizations. Social Security beneficiaries may rely on non-profits or other organizations to manage their benefits. more »

The most-current resources related to the COVID-19 pandemic from the economists and staff of the [Federal Reserve] Research Division: preliminary and published analyses, daily data updates and projections, data tools, and a timeline of related events and policy responses. For more related analysis and resources from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, see the Bank's official COVID-19 page. more »

Workers have the right to file a whistleblower complaint online with OSHA (or 1-800-321-OSHA) if they believe their employer has retaliated against them for exercising their rights under the whistleblower protection laws enforced by the agency. OSHA enforces the whistleblower provisions of more than 20 whistleblower statutes protecting employees from retaliation for reporting violations of various workplace safety and health, airline, commercial motor carrier, consumer product, environmental, financial reform, food safety, motor vehicle safety, healthcare reform, nuclear, pipeline, public transportation agency, railroad, maritime, securities and tax laws. more »

From the US Department of Justice: Be aware that criminals are attempting to exploit COVID-19 worldwide through a variety of scams. There have been reports of: • Individuals and businesses selling fake cures for COVID-19 online and engaging in other forms of fraud. • Phishing emails from entities posing as the World Health Organization or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. • Malicious websites and apps that appear to share virus-related information to gain and lock access to your devices until payment is received. • Seeking donations fraudulently for illegitimate or non-existent charitable organizations. If you think you are a victim of a scam or attempted fraud involving COVID-19, you can report it without leaving your home though a number of platforms. more »