THE VALIDITY OF THIS NEW SOCIAL SECURITY PERSONAL ACCOUNT PROCESS: LOG IN .GOV or ID.ME
Thank you for this platform to ask you a question. Several of us on Social Security just recently have been receiving emails from SSA.gov regarding Creating a New Digital My Social Security personal account where we can access our COLA statement for January 2026. We are all very Unsure whether These Emails that “look” legitimate, have the Social Security Emblem on the top of the page, and also state the email is from ssa.gov. But, the process to Verify and Authenticate our True Identity (Download a picture of our self AND Download a picture of our Drivers License) Seems Very Suspicious to all of us. And, If This is Legitimate, Why Now? We all have had User Names and Passwords to Open our Personal Account, and we are Very Unsure and Unclear about these Emails we have been receiving. Please offer us Clarification so we can obtain Our COLA statements. Thank you, Terry.
Terry Says
Yes, login.gov is the new way to access everything from TSA clearances to Social Security — and much more. Here is a complete explanation: https://www.login.gov/what-is-login/
The requirement to upload a photo ID and Drivers license is all very new — a part of this administration that says it is focused on fraud. Keep in mind, that you do not have to log in to your SS account — unless you want to verify your earnings history, for example. So, as long as they keep mailing 1099s each year and they correctly reflect your benefits received, you can ignore the need to create a new login.gov account.
