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.

This is easy. You don't need to guess if it's real or spam. Just look at the sender's email address. What is the domain (the last two words with a period between them).

For example, if the email is "abc@hotmail.com" then the domain is hotmail.com
If the email is "anything@ask.me.about.my.specials" then the domain is specials.com
If the email is "whatever@anything.ssa.gov", then the domain is ssa.gov

So, what is the domain of the sender's email? If its is indeed "SSA.GOV", then it is legit. If anything else, delete it.

I think you're correct. Don't know what its method is but SSA is sending this, apparently, to all SS recipients. I got mine two months ago and wife got hers last week. Thought it might have something to do with DOGE but others here state they received their notice well before DOGE was ever implemented so; probably not.

I DID click the link after checking the email address it came from. I then also checked the address of the site I was directed to. It was SSA.gov which is the correct address so I proceeded.

Admittedly, I'm not as astute as I used to be but I found the transition process to be a PITA. Finally got the transition completed. Not sure I had the option before but now I have to complete a two-part authentication process in order to log in.

This is not true. The US Postal Service website is indeed USPS.COM

The website USPS.GOV does not exist.

Spam
 

Social security only uses snail mail!

Not true. See Post No. 11. I have received numerous email messages from Social Security.