|
Social Security Column
Don’t Be Scared of Using Our Secure Services
By Phil Walton, Social
Security Manager in Toledo, OH
Guest Column
Autumn is the season of dressing up as monsters and watching
scary movies in the dark. Even though most of these tricks
and treats are just for fun, some of them can be scary, and
for good reason. One of the most common threats we face is
identity theft. Just imagine someone stealing your
information and pretending to be you. You’d have no control
as this person acts in your name, spending money — and
possibly, ruining your credit. That’s one trick you can do
without, which is why we’ve
added an extra layer of security for our customers when they
interact with us online.
Your my Social Security at
www.socialsecurity.gov/myaccount is a safe and secure
place to do business with us. On July 30, 2016, Social
Security implemented a new layer of security, asking account
holders to sign into their account using a one-time code
sent via text message. This second layer of security
requires more than a username and a password is known as
“multifactor authentication.” Although we have always
provided the “extra security” option to account holders, we
implemented this new process to comply with the President’s
Executive Order on Improving the Security of Consumer
Financial Transactions.
As before July 30, current account holders will be able to
access their secure account using only their username and
password. We highly recommend the extra security text
message option, but it will not be required. If you are
uncomfortable with texting, we will be creating an option
where you will receive a code via email.
We strive to balance security and customer service options,
and we want to ensure that our online
services are both easy to use and secure. The my Social
Security service has always featured a robust
verification and authentication process, and it remains safe
and secure. There’s no requirement that you access your
personal my Social Security account as a result of
the steps we are taking. However, when you do access your
account, we encourage you to sign up for the extra security
text message option. You can access your account by visiting
www.socialsecurity.gov/myaccount.
|
