In a bid to curb alleged fraud attempts on the phone line of the Social Security Administration (SSA), the agency will soon be implementing a multi-factor authentification system whereby callers will first need to verify their identity online through their my Social Security accounts by means of a one time PIN.
If they are unable to verify their identity online, the caller will not be able to conduct their routine tasks over the telephone and will have to visit a field office in person.
For decades prior to this change, Social Security beneficiaries were able to complete routine tasks such as viewing their claim status or changing their address over the telephone. For beneficiaries who are elderly, disabled, or do not live near a field office, having to go in to a field office for routine tasks will likely prove to be an additional obstacle.
As such, advocacy groups began expressing concerns regarding this new multi-factor authentification and it appears that the SSA has now come out to say that the use of the one time PIN is optional. Here is what you need to know.
The Social Security Administration announces new anti-fraud measure
The SSA recently submitted a regulatory filing with the Office of Management and Budget which states that the SSA is “expanding its online authentication requirement for address changes, claim status requests, benefit verification letters and tax statements.” If approved by the OMB, this change is set to go into effect as of August 18th.
According to the agency’s own estimates as stated in the filing, there will now be “3.4 million respondents who decline to use SAP (Security Authentication PIN) and visit a field office for in-person identity proofing.” Parallel to this, the SSA has also recently cutback on its staff, closed field offices, and reassigned about 1,000 employees.
When considering these factors, as well as the difficulties that disabled individuals, the elderly, or those living in rural areas will face by going in to a field office to conduct routine tasks, many advocacy groups begin voicing concerns regarding this change.
Some experts even shared that there is no documented evidence of the fraud that the agency claims to be combating with this change.
“There’s just no evidence that this is a problem,” asserted Kathleen Romig, who had previously worked for the SSA under the Biden Administration.
Subsequently, following the push-back from advocacy groups, the agency then spoke with various news outlets to explain that the use of the new PIN system is entirely optional.
SSA says PIN verification is optional
Last Tuesday, Nancy LeaMond, chief advocacy and engagement officer of AARP, wrote a letter to SSA Commissioner Frank Bisignano voicing concern and urging the commissioner to reconsider the change.
In the letter LeaMond wrote the following: “For many older Americans, the phone is how they access Social Security services without having to rely on complicated technology or long, difficult, or costly trips to field offices. We are concerned that under this new policy, older Americans, especially those in rural areas, will have to call, wait on hold for possibly hours, and then wait weeks for an appointment — and in some cases even take time off work — to complete simple transactions they have long been able to do over the phone.”
Consequently, spokespeople for the SSA spoke with various news outlets, stating the new anti-fraud measure is optional.
“The filing with OMB will be amended to clarify that the use of the Security Authentication PIN (SAP) feature is entirely optional,” a spokesperson for the SSA shared with Newsweek. “We are encouraging my Social Security accountholders to use the enhanced SAP feature to quickly and securely verify their identity when calling the National 800 Number. Beneficiaries and my Social Security accountholders are not required to set up or have a SAP for identity verification or manage their benefits over the phone – when calling the National 800 Number, they will continue to use the existing identity verification process.”
“The intention of the expanded SAP feature in the filing was always to be optional,” an agency spokesperson wrote to Axios in an email. “The purpose of the feature is to improve the customer experience by providing a convenient and secure method for callers to verify their identity. If a caller does not have a ‘my Social Security account’ or chooses not to use the SAP feature, the customer experience will be no different than it is today, and they will continue to use the existing authentication methods to verify their identity.”