New Requirement to Keep Social Security Benefits Starting in April: Social Security beneficiaries must verify their identity in person to continue receiving payments

From the Washington Post

The Social Security Administration website crashed four times in 10 days this month, blocking millions of retirees and disabled Americans from logging in to their online accounts because the servers were overloaded. In the field, office managers have resorted to answering phones at the front desk as receptionists because so many employees have been pushed out. But the agency no longer has a system to monitor customers’ experience with these services, because that office was eliminated as part of the cost-cutting efforts led by Elon Musk.

And the phones keep ringing. And ringing.

The federal agency that delivers $1.5 trillion a year in earned benefits to 73 million retired workers, their survivors and poor and disabled Americans is engulfed in crisis — further undermining its ability to provide reliable and quick service to vulnerable customers, according to internal documents and more than two dozen current and former agency employees and officials, customers and others who interact with Social Security.

Financial services executive Frank Bisignano is scheduled to face lawmakers Tuesday during a Senate confirmation hearing as President Donald Trump’s pick to become the permanent commissioner. For now, the agency is run by a caretaker leader in his sixth week on the job who has raced to push out more than 12 percent of the staff of 57,000. He has conceded that the agency’s phone service “sucks” and acknowledged that Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service is really in charge, pushing a single-minded mission to find benefits fraud despite vast evidence that the problem is overstated.

The turmoil is leaving many retirees, disabled claimants and legal immigrants who need Social Security cards with less access or shut out of the system altogether, according to those familiar with the problems. “What’s going on is the destruction of the agency from the inside out, and it’s accelerating,” Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) said in an interview. “I have people approaching me all the time in their 70s and 80s, and they’re beside themselves. They don’t know what’s coming.” […]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/03/25/social-security-phones-doge-cuts/ 

[Led by Trump and overseen by Musk], the Social Security Administration (SSA) is taking steps to enhance the security of its services by implementing identity verification procedures. The updated measures will further safeguard Social Security records and benefits against fraudulent activity. Over the next two weeks, SSA will carefully 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. 

At the same time, the agency will expedite processing all direct deposit change requests – both in person and online – to one business day. Prior to this change, online direct deposit changes were held for 30 days. “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.”

The agency’s two-week transition plan includes training frontline employees and management about the new policy and careful monitoring of policy compliance. At the conclusion of the transition period, on March 31, 2025, SSA will enforce online digital identity proofing and in-person identity proofing. SSA will permit individuals who do not or cannot use the agency’s online my Social Security services to start their claim for benefits on the telephone.

However, the claim cannot be completed until the individual’s identity is verified in person. The agency therefore recommends calling to request an in-person appointment to begin and complete the claim in one interaction. Individuals with and without an appointment will need to prove identity before starting a transaction. Individuals who do not or cannot use the agency’s online my Social Security services to change their direct deposit information, can visit a local office to process the change or can call 1-800-772-1213 to schedule an in-person appointment.

SSA recently required nearly all agency employees, including frontline employees in all offices throughout the country, to work in the office five days a week. This change ensures maximum staffing is available to support the stronger in-person identity proofing requirement.

SSA plans to implement the Department of Treasury’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service’s payment integrity service called Account Verification Service (AVS). AVS provides instant bank verification services to proactively and timely prevent fraud associated with direct deposit change requests.

The agency will continue to monitor and, if necessary, make adjustments, to ensure it pays the right person the right amount at the right time while at the same time safeguarding the benefits and programs it administers.

https://blog.ssa.gov/social-security-strengthens-identity-proofing-requirements-and-expedites-direct-deposit-changes-to-one-day/