I have been warning you about scams related to Social Security benefits for many years.   Many of these scams take the form of an imposter scam where the scammer posing as a Social Security Administration employee sends you an email in which you are either lured into providing personal information or directed to click on a malware infected link.  Since you can never be sure when you get an email as to who is actually contacting you, my advice is always to absolutely confirm any email from Social Security before you respond.

Today, however, I am telling you that the email you and I may have recently received regarding making changes to our My Social Security Account is actually legitimate.  The changes are required for people who, like me, set up a My Social Security Account prior to September 18, 2021.  The changes are being required in order to comply with increased security measures. The My Social Security Account allows you to set up a personal online account with the SSA that enables you to view your earnings history and estimates of benefits as well as manage your benefits online including changing your address or starting or changing direct electronic deposits of your check into a bank account you may designate.

TIPS

The email presently being sent to people with My Social Security Accounts set up prior to September 18, 2021 instructs you as to what you need to do to transition to a Login.gov account to provide the same essential services you got with your My Social Security Account.  When you log in to Login.gov you will be provided with an option to easily transition from the My Social Security Account to the new Login.gov account.  I strongly advise everyone to set up one of these accounts even if you are not presently receiving Social Security benefits to prevent a scammer from setting one up in your name before you do.  The new Login.gov account provides you with all of the same services that were previously provided by My Social Security Accounts.

Here is a link to the Social Security Administration’s press release that provides information about the change-over. https://www.ssa.gov/news/press/releases/2024/#7-2024-1

If you are not a subscriber to Scamicide.com and would like to receive daily emails with the Scam of the day, all you need to do is sign up for free using this link. https://scamicide.com/scam-of-the-day/