If a surprise payment in the $6,000 range shows up in your bank account from the Social Security Administration, its legit! NBC 5 Responds has been hearing from retirees who say they’ve received the extra cash, but they don’t know why.
Some big changes are happening for Social Security recipients and applicants, some of which have already started while others are taking effect at the end of the month.
The agency is reversing some COVID protocols, while making potential cuts and implementing changes surrounding direct deposit and identity verification.
More than 72.5 million people, including retirees and children, receive retirement and disability benefits through the Social Security Administration.
So what do you need to know?
What changes are coming for Social Security recipients?
Identity verification
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.
Over the next two weeks, the agency said it would transition "to stronger identity proofing procedures for both benefit claims and direct deposit changes."
"Individuals seeking these services who cannot use their personal 'my Social Security' account, which requires online identity proofing, will then need to visit a local Social Security office to prove their identity in person," the agency said.
That means that starting March 31, 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.
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“Americans deserve to have their Social Security records protected with the utmost integrity and vigilance,” Lee Dudek, acting commissioner of Social Security, said in a statement. “For far too long, the agency has used antiquated methods for proving identity. Social Security can better protect Americans while expediting service.”
Those who cannot verify their identity online will be allowed to start their claim via phone, but the claims will not be processed until that person verifies their identity in person.
Those needing to visit a local office can call (800) 772-1213 to schedule an in-person appointment.
The change will apply to new Social Security applicants and existing recipients who want to change their direct deposit information.
Direct deposit
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.
Debt collection
The SSA announced Thursday that it would immediately resume collecting debt through its Treasury Offset Program.
The program had been suspended "due to the economic challenges posted by the COVID-19 pandemic."
The collection will be for debts accrued prior to March 2020.
According to the agency, the Treasury Offset Program "is a centralized program designed to collect delinquent debts owed to federal and state agencies by intercepting Federal and state payments."
“Resuming collections through the Treasury Offset Program is a critical step in our commitment to being good stewards of taxpayer funds and ensuring the integrity of our programs,” Dudek said in a release. “We are dedicated to recovering overpayments while providing individuals with the necessary information and options to address their debts.”
Locations Closing
The plans come as the agency is set to shutter dozens of Social Security offices throughout the country and has already laid out plans to lay off thousands of workers.
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.
Why are the changes being made?
The Trump administration said Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency is targeting waste in the federal government and Musk has been focused on Social Security as an alleged hotbed of fraud, describing it as a “ponzi scheme” and insisting that reducing waste in the program is an important way to cut government spending.
“The Social Security Administration is losing over $100 million a year in direct deposit fraud,” Dudek said. “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.
Are there concerns with making these changes?
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.
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.”
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.
Many Americans have been concerned that SSA office closures and massive layoffs of federal workers 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.
What about DOGE?
A federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency from Social Security systems that hold personal data on millions of Americans, calling their work there a “fishing expedition.”
The order also requires the team to delete any personally identifiable data in their possession.
U.S. District Judge Ellen Hollander in Maryland found that the team got broad access to sensitive information at the Social Security Administration to search for fraud with little justification.
“The DOGE Team is essentially engaged in a fishing expedition at SSA, in search of a fraud epidemic, based on little more than suspicion,” she wrote.
The order does allow DOGE staffers to access to data that's been redacted or stripped of anything personally identifiable, if they undergo training and background checks.
“To be sure, rooting out possible fraud, waste, and mismanagement in the SSA is in the public interest. But, that does not mean that the government can flout the law to do so,” Hollander wrote.
The ruling, which could be challenged on appeal, comes in a lawsuit filed by labor unions, retirees and the advocacy group Democracy Forward. They argued that DOGE access violates privacy laws and presents serious information security risks. The lawsuit included a declaration from a recently departed Social Security official who saw the DOGE team sweep into the agency said she is deeply worried about sensitive information being exposed.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
DOGE detailed a 10-person team of federal employees at the SSA, seven of whom were granted read-only access to agency systems or personally identifiable information, according to court documents.
The staffers were all federal employees allowed to access the data under federal privacy laws, the government argued, and there's no evidence that any personal data was improperly shared.
The Justice Department also said that DOGE access doesn’t deviate significantly from normal practices inside the agency, where employees are routinely allowed to search its databases. But attorneys for the plaintiffs called the access unprecedented.
At SSA, DOGE staffers swept into the agency days after Trump’s inauguration and pressed for a software engineer to quickly get access to data systems that are normally carefully restricted even within the government, a former official said in court documents.
The team appeared to be searching for fraud based on inaccuracies and misunderstandings, according to Tiffany Flick, the former acting chief of staff to the acting commissioner.
The team has drawn nearly two dozen lawsuits. Earlier this week another Maryland judge found that DOGE's dismantling of United States Agency for International Development was likely unconstitutional.
While other judges have raised questions about DOGE’s sweeping cost-cutting efforts, they have not always agreed any risks are imminent enough to block the team from government systems.
