US Social Security Administration to require in-person identity checks for new and existing recipients

By FATIMA HUSSEIN
Updated 10:48 PM UTC, March 18, 2025


Demonstrators gather outside of the Edward A. Garmatz United States District Courthouse in Baltimore, on Friday, March 14, 2025, before a hearing regarding the Department of Government Efficiency’s access to Social Security data. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

WASHINGTON (AP) — In an effort to limit fraudulent claims, the Social Security Administration will impose tighter identity-proofing measures — which will require millions of recipients and applicants to visit agency field offices rather than interact with the agency over the phone.

Beginning March 31st, people will no longer be able to verify their identity to the SSA over the phone and those who cannot properly verify their identity over the agency’s “my Social Security” online service, will be required to visit an agency field office in person to complete the verification process, agency leadership told reporters Tuesday.

The change will apply to new Social Security applicants and existing recipients who want to change their direct deposit information.

Retiree advocates warn that the change will negatively impact older Americans in rural areas, including those with disabilities, mobility limitations, those who live far from SSA offices and have limited internet access.

The plan also comes as the agency plans to shutter dozens of Social Security offices throughout the country and has already laid out plans to lay off thousands of workers.

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 losing over $100 million a year in direct deposit fraud,” Leland Dudek, the agency’s acting commissioner, said on a Tuesday evening call with reporters — his first call with the media. “Social Security can better protect Americans while expediting service.”

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 Rep. John Larson, the top Democrat on the House Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee, said in a statement that “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.”

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.

Voters have flooded town halls across the country to question Republican lawmakers about the Trump administration’s cuts, including its plans for the old-age benefits program.

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.

Source (Archive)

 

[northstar747]

How often does one need to change direct deposit info though? It seems to me if this is something that's actually a regular inconvenience you've either found an extreme edge case, or something is up that you're changing your bank that often.

I had to do that for my grandmother.

The thing was that the bank she had it go into bought out like 3 or 4 times, so the rounting number I had for the account didnt match what SSA had on file.

How ever i was on the phone with a dumb nigger laddy who coulda been ether stupid or lazy or both and just said no.

Rather than put me on her SSA account we just created a POA checking account. I also took her in person to the local office which was hard because she was in a wheel chair. The agent there said I shoulda been able to do shit over the phone.

Personally I would do things different like have the SSA generate list of all people that are 110+ that arent flagged as being dead. and Do a check to verify if they are alive. Like send someone to look at them. And I dont mean if they are in the list and not collecting just to update the flagg for being dead.

Then generate another list lof 100+ and then 90+ etc that way you can start with smaller pools and work your way up. Fucking with SS payments if a fucking political third rail so taking it slow and with caution is a good idea

 

[2020chan]

If the government was smart they would hire agents who could travel to do this but that would require them to hire people who can be fucked to leave their house and talk to people.

This is the kind of job that would make sense to have outreach workers that can set up appointments to visit people at home. If libraries can figure out a way to do "homebound delivery" for the disabled and elderly, then the fucking SS office can figure it out too.

Rural Americans aren't retards who can't go into the city every now and then. This would only be a problem if the SSA offices weren't able to process people on arrival. Rural people made due for decades before and will be fine now, still able to do it online if they're able, but I know a lot of boomers struggle with that and internet can be abysmal in the sticks.

Since when do they give a fuck about rural Americans? They hate them unless they can use the fact that they live in a yucky, non-city location to manipulate the story.

What a disingenuous cocksucking whore. You don't hate journalists enough.

Whenever they use their favorite buzzwords, you know they are admitting that the opposition is correct.
I was doubting if Elon had any good ideas until they were labeled "Debunked". Now I have to assume he's right about whatever they're deboonking. Everything that is debunked, unfounded or falsely claimed has proven to be the opposite since they started using those words in every article.

 

[The Crack Spiders Bitch]

I find it odd that so many people in here are like "What about people who can't travel?"
Australia is huge and we have all sorts of schemes to help get people from rural areas into the cities for medical treatment.

Americans are supposedly about Jesus and charity - so maybe you can help eachother out? Drive your oldies into town to get stuff sorted.

Hell, don't your churches or rotary clubs organise meals and other shit to help old people.
The one thing that can be said about Americans is you're all rather friendly and helpful.

This isn't terrforming Mars.
It's human transportation.
Our civilisations are built on that.
This shit is not hard.

 

[The Ugly One]

I find it odd that so many people in here are like "What about people who can't travel?"

Because it's a red herring. The real issue is illegal aliens commit enormous amounts of social security fraud, and the left thinks it should be legal to defraud the American people if you have brown skin to punish us for our history of racism. But they can't just come out and say that, so they make up some bullshit about 'people in rural areas' (who vote Republican anyway).

 

[The Crack Spiders Bitch]

Because it's a red herring. The real issue is illegal aliens commit enormous amounts of social security fraud, and the left thinks it should be legal to defraud the American people if you have brown skin to punish us for our history of racism. But they can't just come out and say that, so they make up some bullshit about 'people in rural areas' (who vote Republican anyway).

Fair, but I feel like this should be pointed out at every opportunity:

"If you care so much then set up a NGO or charity to help connect these people with drivers or pay for uber/taxis."

We know they don't care, but it's important to keep pointing out their lies.

 

[Aidan]

I find it odd that so many people in here are like "What about people who can't travel?"

It's because leftists have used rural people and the elderly as an excuse for things like voter ID being bad or anything that requires an ounce of effort leaving the house.

Retiree advocates warn that the change will negatively impact older Americans in rural areas, including those with disabilities, mobility limitations, those who live far from SSA offices and have limited internet access.

Here you can see this in action. They're saying that people should be able to verify ID purely over the phone because people may not be able to make it to an SSA office. The elderly and rural are the constant excuse to continue enabling fraud and abuse.

 

[The Crack Spiders Bitch]

It's because leftists have used rural people and the elderly as an excuse for things like voter ID being bad or anything that requires an ounce of effort leaving the house.

Wait, since when is A&N left wing?
People in here were touting the same points.
Hence my confusion

 

[Aidan]

Wait, since when is A&N left wing?
People in here were touting the same points.
Hence my confusion

It's just people commenting on it since it was mentioned in the article and is often used to justify fraud-enabling practices by the feds. The main theme is that the phone ID system is bad and some Farmers think the Social Security Administration should send people out, but no one here seems to be arguing for continuing the status quo.

As an American, we've seen the rural and elderly demographics be used like this as examples of why the left should get their way. It's the same thing as saying requiring ID to vote is bad because it disenfranchises black voters.

 

[MadStan]

Losing 100 Million a year is not a lot of fraud given the scale of the payments. However, after requiring in-person interviews I'd expect this figure to rise dramatically so I get the rational behind it.

 

[TowinKarz]

As an American, we've seen the rural and elderly demographics be used like this as examples of why the left should get their way. It's the same thing as saying requiring ID to vote is bad because it disenfranchises black voters.

The one person for whom it's a legit headache (and only a headache, this is not one of the labors of Hercules) to get a senior's rideshare into town is used to justify why 5,000 people in a bughive that were too lazy to cross the street should be put through anyway, thus it always goes.

Rural peple are USED to this.

In the pre-internet days? I had to drive 80 miles round trip a couple of times for documents that couldn't be obtained any other way, it was just part of life. I don't look forward to doing it again. But like how AI will probably bring back having college students write out their papers again instead of type them? It was the cheaters that ruined it all.

Or, to quote Mike from Breaking Bad: We had a GOOD thing you stupid sonofabitch!

 

[SSj_Ness (Yiffed)]

Random drug-tests should be implemented instead. Also, kick all criminals and illegals off of it, as well as the wealthy.

 

[quaawaa]

as well as the wealthy.

Why? They paid into it, they should get their money back. It’s supposed to be a savings plan, not a tax.

 

[SSj_Ness (Yiffed)]

Why? They paid into it, they should get their money back. It’s supposed to be a savings plan, not a tax.

You could say the same thing about the other things I mentioned, like drug addicts. They paid into it, they should get their money back too, right? Rich people don't need it, drug addicts don't deserve it, that's the logic.

 

[TowinKarz]

You could say the same thing about the other things I mentioned, like drug addicts. They paid into it, they should get their money back too, right? Rich people don't need it, drug addicts don't deserve it, that's the logic.

Its shit logic.

You pay in? You get back. End of the story.

 

[Maggots on a Train v2]

Even people who are bedbound typically get loaded into a wheelchair and go to town for doctor visits on a regular basis. It's not like it's impossible to leave the house, somebody takes care of them, otherwise they would die.

 

[SSj_Ness (Yiffed)]

Its shit logic.

You pay in? You get back. End of the story.

Nah, druggies and richies get btfo. I don't think Bill Gates needs it bud.

 

[Heed Not]

called it a “Ponzi scheme” suggesting

Isn't it literally one by design? That's not something Musk pulled from thin air. It's a complaint older than I am

 

[TowinKarz]

Nah, druggies and richies get btfo. I don't think Bill Gates needs it bud.

Need I really point out the danger inherent in letting the government set your taxes based on how much income it thinks you "need" ?

Schumer just said on The View that taxpayers complaining about where their tax money goes need to understand it's not theirs.

 

[Lil Yappy]

There should be SS workers and vans capable of picking up disabled and elderly people.

As for drug tests I am against that. Some disabled people take pain medications and actually need them. That doesn't mean they should starve on the streets.

What would actually save a lot of money would be ending birthright citizenship. Illegals popping out kids and getting 1000s in food stamps every month along with a bunch of other services that most people, even poor Americans who need it don't get. The DHS office in my 95%+ white area has 4 windows where you can speak to a secretary to get your bennies. 3 of them are Spanish speaking only. That should tell you something.

 

[SSj_Ness (Yiffed)]

Need I really point out the danger inherent in letting the government set your taxes based on how much income it thinks you "need" ?

Schumer just said on The View that taxpayers complaining about where their tax money goes need to understand it's not theirs.

A lack of common sense is why trannies have so much power. We live in a world where we can't say men aren't women and billionaires don't need SSI. There's no danger here.