Received email "Transition Your Social Security Account Today." Is this legit?
 

I access Social Security information online and received an email this morning with the subject title, "Transition Your Social Security Account Today."

Does anyone know what this is all about? It looks legit, but scammers are getting better every day at looking legit.

I have not followed through on it yet because I have heard nothing about expecting whatever this "transition" is.
Is this for real? If so, does anybody know why?

Boomer

1. Don't click on anything in that e-mail. Either delete it, or report-as-spam and delete.
2. The SSA changed its accounts system a couple years ago? Longer possibly. You had to "transition" to a new mySSA thingie using a login(dot)gov login, or some kind of thing. I did it back when it happened so I can't remember what the exact change was.

Anyone who had created an online account when they were younger, and are now old enough to care about collecting SS checks, will have already changed, or will need to change, that account stuff.

In addition, SSA only sends out e-mails on very rare occasions, for very specific things. Their primary method of communication is US mail. So getting an e-mail from them should always be a red flag. Go to your own online account, by NOT clicking on anything in that e-mail but instead going to either login.gov or my Social Security | SSA and check for any new notifications or action alerts there.

I agree with not clicking on or responding to the email. Go to ssa.gov, and either sign in to your online account, or, if you don't have an online account, create one.

As with many questionable emails, the best approach is to NOT click anything in the email but to go to your account the way you've always gone to your account and see what it says there.

For example:
- Don't click the PayPal link in the email, go directly to PayPal (I learned that, as I suspected, I had not paid for GeekSquad service)
- Don't click on the link to sign into your bank account, go to your normal bank account login and see if there is a notification waiting for you (heck, I don't even have a Wells Fargo account to log into)

SSA may truly want you to transition your login from their old authentication system to either login.gov or id.me but wait to see a notification on your ssa.gov login screen, don't trust the link in an email.

Not even sure if SS even has my email and we have been collecting for over 10 years.

Sounds suspicious

I log in to both my IRS and Social Security sites with ID.me.

A simple Internet search, on "Transition Your Social Security Account Today, will provide you with several explanations as to the fact this is a scam.

Totally agree with previous posts. Do NOT ever click on links in an email unless from a trusted, and verified, source.

ALWAYS go to the source website by typing in the web address in the URL or web field of your browser yourself.

If you're not sure of the authentic web address, usually google will provide it by being the first "hit" when you search for it.

I just did that and 3 different hits said it is legit. One was the damned omnipresent AI that popped up its explanation immediately. I always go beyond AI though. The other two were a television station somewhere, and then a. relatively professionally done YouTube video that explained it.

Supposedly this transition is needed for those who created online accounts before September of 2021. I don't know for sure when I did that, but do remember the reason was due to issues with mail delivery when mail was being stolen from drop off mailboxes in my home city. (Postal carriers had been robbed of keys and all the keys fit all the mailboxes.)

If this is legit, it could have been better announced. With SS cuts in staff it is now more impossible than ever to get through by phone call.

I wish I could just switch back to mail-only now and take my chances. I will log on the old way and see if that is an option. The only time I use it is for my form at tax time.

Btw, the YouTube video says this has caused a whole lot of confusion. Of course it has, especially for those of us on SS who are highly vigilant about scams -- or should be.

It's a fine mess they've got us in now,, huh.

Boomer

I recently signed up with Medicare and had to the Leesburg office. We had a very professional person deal with us. Had gone with a family member. All the stuff I get from them is by mail. We have had done scams come in the mail too but they usually have no return address on them.

Don't assume that Social Security does not use email to correspond with customers. They definitely do. I have many emails from them in my stored email folder. I even created a separate email folder named "Social Security".

A few days ago I tried to log onto the SS site but was unable to do so as it required I use the gov dot com site. So I did. When on the gov site I attempted to reach the SS site a note showed up that I had used an invalid SS#. Huh? The number I used was my correct number. I tried a couple more times, same result, so I logged off. Scared me a little as I did not want to interrupt the SS deposits into my bank account. I tried again today and got onto the SS site from the gov site just fine. My experience was disconcerting...

Rather obvious from the posts on this thread.

Here's a idea.
Take a photo of this e-mail on your phone, take it to the s/s office.
Naf said. :thumbup:

Yes, my mom never has had an email account, and collected until she passed.
So once you have started collecting, all is good UNTIL you need to change the bank deposit location, or if a paper check, the mailing address. Then you will need to create a new account and login ID, with an email account.

I had an old account set up along time ago, and just today, created the new account as I will start collecting next January or so. . same email address, different password. . .

good luck to us!

First of all, earnest though they may be, most of this thread’s posts were the standard advice to never click on an unknown email link. Of course, I would never click on anything that makes me wary. I know 3 people who were scammed, and I never would have guessed it could have happened to any of them.

Bogie, my response to your “look it up” post (both quoted above) shows I found things that look legit saying the email is legit, so which is correct? In your post, you wrote there are “several explanations as to the FACT that this is a SCAM.” ……

But. But. But. I found several explanations that said it is not a scam.

I asked TOTV because I was hoping to find info here from those who had received this email, too. (And, btw, retiredguy123 is right in his post saying SS does send emails. Maybe it is just to those with online accounts. But emails SS does certainly send.)

So? Which answer is right, according to the almighty internet, in this fact-free society where we all now live?

Oh well, I don’t have time to click around and d _ _ _ around with this right now.

Boomer

I log in to my ssa account by going to ssa.gov, enter my email address, and then my login.gov password. If you don't have a login.gov password, you can create on by going to:

secure.login.gov/sign_up/enter_email

Note that the login.gov password is a universal Government password that can be used for other Government websites, not just ssa. Apparently, some Government agencies are moving toward a more universal password system.

Upon checking my email files I found several old emails from SSA, including, on May 9, the "Transition...Today" one cited by the OP. It was legit.

So I have heard, retiredguy123. That universal Government password, suddenly needed, certainly will make things easier — but for whom or what?

When my imagination takes a leap, in some situations, song lyrics pop into my head.

For this universal password situation, for some reason, I am hearing Sting’s 1983 lyrics…….

“Every breath you take,
Every move you make,
Every bond you break,
Every step you take,
I’ll be watchin’ you.”

(shudder)

Boomer

The concept is "good", but it won't work. I would compare it to the mandated electronic medical records, which also doesn't work.

Nor do I.

Then, with all due respect, why ask the question in the first place? If a hundred ToTV users reported receiving a legitimate email, would you then choose to click a link like that? That is exactly what scammers hope for.

The standard advice to not click an email link and go directly to an organization's known website is the best advice.

Oh, for heavens sake. Some people have so much drama in their lives that it must be difficult for those people to manage anything.

Back to the SS question, call the office or go in person if you're not comfortable with the answers provided here. That's the nice part about being retired, there is time for the details in life. Another point to consider is that I have always had a long wait to speak with a SS representative when calling in to the office. I simply put the phone on speaker and continued reading, working on a current project or whatever until they respond. Hope you are able to harness the solution to your question.

OP Boomer here, manaboutown. While mannerly me must thank you for the validation, I must confess that I was hoping it was a scam. I was not about to do anything that could possibly screw up my SS but looks like choice is once again off the table.

I do not watch much so-called news lately because I value my sanity. But how could this one happen without widespread announcement through various media to tell us it was coming.

Boomer

Small distinction: This is not a universal password that will work on many sites, this is an authentication system that can service multiple websites. Sort of like multiple sites accessing a Microsoft authenticator on your mobile device, you don't use the same password on multiple sites, you use one password on one service that multiple sites then trust.

Though for any that want to believe Big Brother is watching, it is certainly conceivable that login.gov could track which client sites requested authorization for you. How useful it would be for someone to know which Govt websites you looked at is anyone's guess.

I watch the real news lately because I value my sanity. How is one to catch this "widespread announcement" if one isn't tuned in?

I would guess that Apple, Google, Facebook, etc. know far more about any of us than a Govt website.

Oh my, yanked a chain? Rattled a cage? Who? Me? My allusions annoy? Got attention though, didn’t it? (Btw, that is allusions not illusions or delusions.)

I manage quite well, thank you. In fact, looks like I managed to get some direction, narrowing down my answer, by just checking this thread from time to time. Even though it was not the answer I wanted, it’s here now. So much easier than hanging around my phone all day.

Drama? HaHaHa. Not for me. I never invite drama into my real life. But in the drama that is often TOTV, certain characters never miss a cue, especially those who enter from stage right. Thanks for playing the predictable part.

And scene!

Boomer

Glad I could help. Thank you for the thank you, Boomer.

Well, I have to limit my news watching time as well as so much of the news is so good if I spent more time watching it I would be stuck in an overjoyed state of constant elation and forget to eat, sleep and tend to my business which is doing great!

Sarcasm noted.

Everything is not about money though.

At such an age, so what’s next……..

“Money is like manure. You have to spread it around to have it do any good.” The person who said that was not talking about tax brackets. He was talking about philanthropy. Philanthropy is a choice that speaks volumes about who someone really is. I believe we are all hardwired when it comes to handling money, but that hardwiring runs the gamut. There’s a lot being said about and by Bill Gates lately. . .But I digress. Imagine that. :)

Btw, there is a new book you might find interesting. The title is Marketcrafters: The 100 Year Struggle to Shape the American Economy by Chris Hughes, an economist. I saw the author interviewed on “The Daily Show” a couple of weeks ago. I sometimes get my “news” from Stewart.

Boomer

Maybe you're mistyping - I hope you didn't try entering info into the gov (dot) com site. That would be bad. It's ssa (dot) gov. All federal government official websites end in .gov not .com

The reason I assumed it'd be a scam is - this transitional change was implemented in 2021. Anyone just signing up for SS now, would automatically be required to use the new method, they'd have nothing to "transition" to. Anyone who had used the previous version, I assumed had already transitioned within the first couple of years it was implemented.

Seemed fishy that you'd suddenly be told to make the change four years after it was implemented.

I rarely get an email requesting I sign into _________site, mainly it goes to spam. But if it does show up I send to junk. All sites I use, government, military, or financial has a 2 step process, with a possibility of 3 step process of facial or fingerprinting.

A random email that OP received even if it’s legit, I wouldn’t open.

You have to have a Login.gov to get to your SSA. There is no charge for this. It is to eliminate all the different log ins for .gov sites. When you login to your account at SSA it should take you to the site to create a login.gov account. I personally wouldn't trust anything in an email regarding this ESPECIALLY if is asking for money to do this.

Boomer, I agree with you that there should have been some media announcements.
Maybe it’s a matter of timing. This has been going on for quite awhile…I changed mine last summer, after receiving the notification that you received. I took all the steps everyone advised…..signed on the “old way” and made changes from there.
There is a slow roll out on this change….dont know why.

Ahh, so this change was implemented almost a year ago and was not drafted in the last few months. That explains it not being announced in some fashion, Thank you for the clarity! :wave:

Based on the note on the login page, the new authentication was available in September 2021. I recall converting my login some time ago, probably around 2022. I don't remember if I received a message requiring this or if the new method was announced and I chose to convert at that time.

Very recently (2025) there is an increased interest in identity theft and fraud with Social Security payments. You probably heard the news about seniors being required to do certain things in person rather than over the phone. The emails going out now may be related to that; it may be that the old logins do not meet the requirements for identity theft protection so they are now strongly suggesting the conversion.

It was implemented in 2021 and was announced publicly on every type of news media, in addition to the website itself - back in 2021 when it was implemented.

The fed gov is getting rid of the many different login accounts and going to a single, more secure, setup.

That is what is happening.

I indeed mistyped! Thank you for catching this.