Pinnacle Personnel Services LLC | Debbie Hatch
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Online security is super important. Many of your online accounts likely already use double authentication. Last summer, the Social Security Administration added it but mandated the second device (where you would receive the code to type into your computer) had to be a cell phone. Many people expressed concern about this – and SSA moved to making it completely optional. Double authentication is coming back, and will be mandatory. Effective 10 June 2017, individuals signing onto the SSA website will have a choice. You can use either your cell phone or email address as the second way to verify identity. As of next month, when you log into your my Social Security account, the first step will be to type in your username and password. Then you will be asked to choose either your cell phone or your email address as your second identification method. You will receive either a text message, or an e-mail with a code that will need to be entered into the website in order for you to gain access to your records. Using two ways to identify you when you log on will help better protect your account from unauthorized use and potential identity fraud. Since my Social Security became available in May 2012, more than 30 million people have created an account.
If you’re not one of them, I sincerely suggest you sign up as soon as you can. Social Security no longer mails annual statements. Those are now sent once every five years but it is still YOUR responsibility to ensure your statement is correct. I set an annual reminder for myself, in my birth month, to go look at a copy of my statement. |
