Many U.S. citizens will shortly need to go to Social Security The administration office prefers to handle interactions with the agency in person instead of over the phone as it implements stricter identity verification processes aimed at reducing fraudulent claims.
Starting from March 31, beneficiaries are mandated to confirm their identification through the agency’s "my Social Security" online portal. Individuals who cannot do so remotely will have to go to an agency field office personally to finalize the verification procedure, as stated by the agency on Tuesday.
The service will henceforth not be accessible via telephone.
The modification will affect both new and current Social Security beneficiaries starting March 31.
Retirement proponents caution that this alteration will have adverse effects on seniors. Americans In remote regions, this includes individuals with disabilities, mobility constraints, those residing far from SSA offices, and having restricted online accessibility.
The proposal also coincides with the agency’s intention to close numerous Social Security offices across the nation and has already outlined plans to terminate thousands of employees.
In addition to the identity verification change, the agency announced that it plans to expedite processing of recipients’ direct deposit change requests – both in person and online – to one business day. Previously, online direct deposit changes were held for 30 days.
The Social Security Administration is facing losses of more than $100 million annually due to direct deposit scams," stated Leland Dudek, the acting commissioner, during an evening conference call with journalists on Tuesday — his inaugural press interaction. "Enhanced protection measures could safeguard Americans without compromising efficiency.
He said a problem with eliminating fraudulent claims is that “the information that we use through knowledge-based authentication is already in the public domain.”
“This is a common sense measure,” Dudek added.
More than 72.5 million people, including retirees and children, receive retirement and disability benefits through the Social Security Administration.
Connecticut Representative John Larson, who leads as the senior Democrat on the House Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee, stated in a release that "Trump and Musk aim to generate confusion and inefficiency within the SSA by mandating that seniors and individuals with disabilities register online or visit local field offices personally instead of allowing them to sign up via telephone calls. Their ultimate objective appears to be the destabilization of the current system for potential privatization."
The DOGE website says that leases for 47 Social Security field offices across the country, including in Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Florida, Kentucky and North Carolina, have been or will be ended. However, Dudek downplayed the impact of its offices shuttering, saying many were small remote hearing sites that served few members of the public.
Many Americans have been concerned that SSA office closures and massive layoffs of federal workers — part of an effort by President Donald Trump and Elon Musk ’s Department of Government Efficiency to shrink the size of the federal government — will make getting benefits even more difficult.
Musk has pushed debunked theories about Social Security and described the federal benefit programs as rife with fraud, and called it a “Ponzi scheme” suggesting the program will be a primary target in his crusade to reduce government spending.
Citizens have swarmed municipal buildings throughout the nation to grill GOP representatives regarding the Trump administration's reductions, particularly its proposals for the entitlements meant for senior citizens.
In addition a group of labor unions last week sued and asked a federal court for an emergency order to stop DOGE from accessing the sensitive Social Security data of millions of Americans.
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