In-person identity checks will soon be necessary for new, existing Social Security recipients
Security measures being updated with the Social Security Administration will soon require certain beneficiaries to verify their identity in person at an SSA office. The change will impact new and existing recipients who need to make a change to their direct deposit information.
Starting March 31, beneficiaries wanting to update banking information can no longer verify their identity over the phone with an SSA agent. Instead, recipients must either update the information through the “my Social Security” online service, or visit a SSA field office to make the change in person.
“Americans deserve to have their Social Security records protected with the utmost integrity and vigilance,” said Lee Dudek, Acting Commissioner of Social Security. “For far too long, the agency has used antiquated methods for proving identity. Social Security can better protect Americans while expediting service.”
Dudek said the move is being made in an effort to curb ongoing direct deposit fraud. In a call with members of the media Tuesday night, Dudek claimed the SSA is losing $100 million a year in direct deposit fraud, the Associated Press reports.
Approximately 72.5 million people in the U.S. receive Social Security benefits.
While Dudek says the effort is “a common sense measure,” critics say the move may cause undue harm to recipients. Especially as major cuts are being made to the SSA by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
That agency, headed by billionaire Elon Musk, was created earlier this year via an executive order signed by President Donald Trump. Several SSA offices nationwide have already been closed by DOGE and plans to lay off thousands of workers have been announced.
Related story: Elon Musk’s DOGE announces closure of Social Security office in Michigan
Rep. John Larson (D-CT.) said in a statement “by requiring seniors and disabled Americans to enroll online or in person at the same field offices they are trying to close, rather than over the phone, Trump and Musk are trying to create chaos and inefficiencies at SSA so they can privatize the system.”
Larson is the top Democrat on the House Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee.
During a podcast interview earlier this month, Musk called Social Security “the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time,” but did not provide any evidence of his claim.
Along with changing the identity verification process, Dudek announced that once direct deposit information is updated, it will take one business day before going into effect. Under the current system, direct deposit changes were held for 30 days.
Dudek says the agency will take the next two weeks to transition to the new system and train employees on the new methods.