Getting Access to Your Social Security Upates Online
Those of you who use the Social Security website online may find this message useful for reference.
Having a web account doesn't come automatically when you start receiving SSA payments. A person actually has to set the account up for online access, as with any online service, business or so on.
With online access, the main areas you can view online are:
Overview information
Benefit & Payment Details
Earnings Record
Replacement Documents
My Profile
When you go to the Social Security website at https://www.ssa.gov/ , there is a link on that main page to go to your "account" - or what they call "My Social Security" at https://www.ssa.gov/myaccount .
That page has links to Create an Account or Finish Setting Up ... if you haven't already, and has a link to "Sign In" if you already have your account set up.
One of the important security features of the Social Security website is the use of confirmation codes to Sign In.
When you go to Sign In, you'll get a prompt for SSA to send a confirmation code by text to your mobile phone, or by email.
Where the code gets sent depends on the preferences you set when creating your account for online access to the SSA website.
Once you get the code, you type it into the appropriate box, then go to a "Terms" page to click "Agree", and then you get into your personal information area and can use the Sections listed above.
Occasionally there may be a glitch in the system that prevents "SMS" or " Text" messages from going out. SSA seems to have been experiencing such issues earlier today, and it looks like they had such a problem earlier in the year too.
Receiving and inputting the confirmation code is a necessary step to Sign In.
If it doesn't seem to be working, you can report the problem to (800) 772-1213. I used that number for such purpose today and the problem was resolved within about thirty minutes.
It's possible that the computer down or over-utilized for a brief time, or perhaps part of it was going through maintenance, but the problem persisted less than an hour and then confirmation codes started getting sent out successfully.
Some people have mobile phone providers who may an anti-spam block on "short code" or "short text" sendings. SSA may suggest that you contact your mobile service provider to lift such block, if applicable. This might seem kind of "Greek", but the specific term has a practical meaning for providers.
If you don't have a mobile phone, or if you find texting difficult, you can set your online preferences to send confirmation codes to an email address instead. Or you can set your preferences to have both options available when you go to Sign In.
The confirmation codes may seem like an inconvenience, but the news seems to indicate that bad actors are out there trying to hack or scam people receiving SSA payments quite actively. So the extra steps in receiving and inputting a code each time seem well advised.
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