The Social Security Administration (SSA) was once a steady, reliable source of information and earned benefits for millions of seniors, the disabled, and their families. But since the onslaught of changes driven by billionaire Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), this once dependable agency has been thrown into chaos.
- Young DOGE acolytes with seemingly unfettered access to millions of Americans’ private information including Social Security numbers, banking information, earnings histories and, in many cases, medical information, have left the public rightfully worried about how their information will be used and whether it will be adequately protected from hackers, or weaponized to attack anyone disfavored by the Administration.
- Frequent changes in procedures for interacting with SSA have sown confusion and panic among those attempting to contact the agency by telephone, with little advance notice or legitimate reasoning behind the changes.
- Unsubstantiated claims of fraud, with little basis in fact, continue to undermine the public’s faith in the agency they rely on to deliver the benefits they have earned through a lifetime of hard work.
- Finally, the increasing number of computer crashes, which have left some beneficiaries with missing earnings histories, long lines at field offices and continuing problems communicating with SSA through the telephone, have resulted in many anxious seniors searching for information and options for protecting themselves from future chaos at SSA as staffing continues to decline.
These unprecedented activities of DOGE at SSA raise legitimate concerns about the agency’s ability to serve the public in the future. For this reason, we have identified five actions seniors and their families can take today to help protect themselves from the chaos at SSA:
Create a Personal Account at SSA
If you have not already done so and are comfortable with computers, or have a trusted friend or family member who can help you, there is value in creating a my Social Security account at SSA. This is not a simple task if you do not have internet access at home or are a novice computer user, but it can be well worth the effort. Before you can create the account, you will first need to create an account at one of the two credential service providers certified by SSA – login.gov or ID.me. Of the two, most people find login.gov easier to use, as ID.me uses facial recognition technology to verify your identity. The use of facial recognition requires either a cellphone or computer with video capabilities, something many seniors may not have experience using. While login.gov does not require video capabilities, it will require you to set up two-step authentication – which means you need to have access to email, to a landline, or be able to receive text messages or generate backup codes so the company can verify your identity before you can create an account or log into it later.
If you are able to set up a my Social Security account, you will be less reliant on the telephone or local field offices to transact business with SSA, so long as the agency’s computers are operating correctly. For example, you can check your earnings history, benefit amounts, and how much is being withheld from your benefits for Medicare premiums, taxes etc. without the need to contact SSA in person or by phone.
Acquire and Save Your Earnings Records
The history of how much you have earned each year you worked is essential for determining the level of benefits you should receive when you file your Social Security claim. It will also be needed in case SSA’s computers erase your history and deny you benefits. Most people do not keep records of their earnings over a lifetime of work, and the later a person tries to confirm their earnings, the more difficult it becomes. That is why the National Committee has repeatedly urged Congress to require the Social Security Administration to follow the law and provide a written earnings statement each year to every worker. Unfortunately, this has not been the case, and at a time when SSA’s computer systems are becoming increasingly unreliable, workers and retirees should secure this information on their own.
If you have a my Social Security account, you have access to your earnings records through SSA. We recommend you download all of your records to your personal computer and make a printed copy, which you save in a secure location. If you do not have an account, you can request your records in writing from SSA. If you find what you believe is an error, collect the documents that prove your earnings and contact SSA to correct the error. Obtaining and updating your records on a regular basis will allow you to always have this important information in case a computer malfunction at SSA erases your data.
Regularly Review Your Financial Transactions
It is very important to regularly check your bank and credit card statements for unauthorized activity. Look for anything out of the ordinary – such as purchases you didn’t make, a merchant’s name you don’t recognize, or charges that just don’t make sense. If you find unusual activity, don’t hesitate to contact the fraud department of your bank or credit card company as soon as possible. The quicker you can identify suspicious activity on your account, the better the chances of fixing any fraudulent activity. Regularly checking your accounts, or having a trusted friend or family member to help you with it, is a good habit to follow at any time, but especially now with so much personal financial information held by SSA at risk of exposure through DOGE activities.
Track Your Credit History
By law, the three credit monitoring bureaus (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion) are required to provide you with a free credit report each year. The easiest way to request these reports is online at AnnualCreditReport.com, but you can also request one by mail or by phone at 877-322-8228. Checking your credit report is the best way to catch unauthorized credit card or banking activity if your identity is stolen, whether as a result of poor protection against hackers at SSA or anywhere else. In addition to your free report, credit monitoring services are available for a fee, or might be available as part of your customer benefits at your bank or credit card company. Credit monitoring services can provide you with early detection of fraud and identity theft protection, critical at a time when identity thieves are increasingly focused on older Americans and the wealth they have accumulated over a lifetime.
Verify Your Identity with SSA in Person
While we hesitate to recommend this option considering the long lines at SSA field offices, many seniors have opted for this solution on their own by visiting offices to prove their identity in advance. Unfortunately, it is not clear this option will work for all services, as the SSA website currently states the following:
“Once you have created a personal my Social Security account, you don’t need to prove your identity online again to continue using Social Security’s convenient online services.
If you need to prove your identity in a local office for a reason explained on this webpage, and if you need to visit a local office again for assistance when proof of identity is required, you will need to prove your identity at that next visit.”
It seems clear to us that this language means proving your identity in advance is ineffective in many cases, because SSA will require you to prove it again any time you go to a field office to use a service that requires identity proving. While seniors already receiving benefits do not need to prove their identity in order to continue receiving them, SSA has announced it will require proof of identity for anyone changing the bank accounts where benefits are deposited directly. Bank accounts may be changed online through a my Social Security account, in person at an office where you must prove your identity, or potentially at your banking institution, though SSA has not provided information on how that option can be accomplished.
However, to change direct deposit accounts by phone, SSA is instituting a complicated process for proving identity that not only requires beneficiaries to have a my Social Security account, it will require callers to be able to access that account while you are on the phone with SSA staff to verify a special code that will be sent to you through your account. If you do not have a my Social Security account when you call, SSA will direct you to hang up and create one, or to visit an office in person. At present, other changes in situation, such as a change in address or name, or the death of a spouse, appear not to require identity proving, but the agency could require such proof in the future.
Government Relations and Policy
May 2025