In general, the difference between the good and the great can sometimes be a matter of how effectively you sweat the little things, the things that actually matter to people at the human-level interface. We call this the tactical user-level interface. Sometimes this is the difference between a positive experience and a negative one. This difference matters for any brand.
Today’s brand example is the US government. Specifically the Social Security Administration, a part of the government I have never harbored any animosity toward … until last week.
I am me.
I was asked to retrieve my social security benefit amount and retirement age. The Social Security Administration no longer mails out statements. That’s a good thing, since a few hundred million statements equate to a LOT of paper. Instead, they recommend that you obtain this information from their website, ssa.gov, which I proceeded to attempt to do. A banner headline greets me on a responsive, seemingly newly minted website with words like “just how easy it is to apply online.”
Please understand, I have registered on many (too many) websites before. I use the web. The web is a big part of my business. More than one hundred thousand people read this blog last year. I am not a newbie … and I failed to successfully register. Twice.
I failed not because the website was poorly designed or hard to use. It’s actually very good overall. I failed because I could not answer all the security questions they asked in order to verify that I am me.
I called the Social Security Administration and got the information I needed over the phone from a very friendly and personable representative. This was relatively easy and did not require that I divulge much information.
Phone easy. Website hard. I don’t see the efficiency in this.
Phone easy. Website hard. I don’t see the efficiency in this. And yet, a clearly stated value of their website (and your website) is to make things easier for me (as well as to save paper and money through the efficiency that is a fundamental benefit of doing such things as obtaining your records online instead of through the mail.)
In the call, I also asked about the website and whether she knew of other complaints. She was not forthcoming on this. I felt responsible to tell her they were being inefficient by making me call her. When I went on to tell her that I think the information they have about me—the information that I needed to know in order to satisfy them and prove that I am me—might be wrong, she told me I would have to contact the credit bureaus to correct anything. When I asked if I could register a personal complaint about the website not serving me well, she said no. They were recording my call, but I wonder if they are tracking the volume of failed attempts to register on the site?
She was kind enough to unlock my account so that I could try again to register on the website.
I did try again, being VERY careful…to…get…every…thing…right. I even looked stuff up on Google about myself to ensure its veracity.
I am not me enough to access my social security data.
I failed. I got locked out a second time.
I am not me enough to access my social security data.
Okay, maybe I’m overreacting. Maybe it’s just me. Maybe I’m the only one who does not, off the top of my head, know the model year of the car I once owned while in grad school.
My wife also needed data from them, so she gave the website registration process a good college try (she does have a graduate degree).
She got locked out … and she was done. She was not going to bother with that ever again.
How much is such animosity worth?
Social Security is a good thing. The Social Security Administration is a government agency that I should have positive feelings for.
So why this?
The lady on the phone said it was for security. In this case apparently, to protect my data … from me
The lady on the phone said it was for security. In this case apparently, to protect my data … from me.
I wonder what percentage of potential accessors of their data have tried to pass through this particular security gauntlet and have, like my wife and I, failed and then just given up. Admittedly, this is not a critical service like obtaining healthcare coverage through a government exchange, but still, this is something I should be able to easily obtain … of the people, by the people and for the people and all that. Is—as this hot new Princeton study (PDF) suggests—democracy as we thought it existed in America just wishful thinking? Is my situation just a byproduct of poor user-testing on a well-intentioned and generally well-designed website, or is it a symptom of something larger? I hope it’s the former. I hope it’s just something they haven’t gotten to yet.
To reiterate my opener: I believe that, in general, the difference between the good and the great can sometimes be how effectively seemingly minor things are attended to. On the positive side, these things can be a trim tab. On the negative side, they can be an incitement to animosity and even brand disavowal. This is an example of one of those places. I want us to be great. I want government to work. I want to believe it exists to serve, desires to be efficient, and is supporting the greater good. Perhaps this is why this situation upsets me. It’s an affront to my sense of pride.
The Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? effect
In case anyone is interested, here is the problem with the Social Security Administration website’s registration security protocols from a usability (UX) standpoint: It’s something we could call the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? effect.
Many of you have seen or heard of the TV quiz show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? It was popular in the early 2000s and from its origins in the UK, eventually spread all over the world. It’s even the context of the Academy Award-winning film Slumdog Millionaire.
The game was simple. Fifteen seemingly easy multiple-choice questions were asked of contestants who, if they could answer all of them, would win $1,000,000. Part of the entertainment value of the show was how easy many of the questions were. The trick was that getting ALL of a series of fifteen—even relatively easy—questions correct was actually much more difficult than it sounded. To spice things up and enhance the gameplay, the game also had three “lifelines” to help the contestants. These were call a friend, ask the audience, and half the options.
The fact is that no, I don’t remember the model year of the car I bought in 1996.
My thought during my second unsuccessful attempt to get all the security questions correct on the Social Security website was this: I need a lifeline. No, I thought, I do not remember the model year of the car I bought in 1996, but I do know a lot of other things about myself! Maybe I could call my college girlfriend about the car …
My more serious point is that The People’s relationship to their government is actually a very important matter in a functioning democracy. So is access to our own publicly held data. Even if I don’t stand to collect a million dollars at the end of my working life, I do want to be able to learn what my Social Security income will be, and I should be able to do so without inordinate and unnecessary frustration.
Nothing is worse for a brand than to be hated or misunderstood because of a poorly executed or thoughtlessly designed tactical user-level interface.
I’m about twenty years from my official, gradually rising retirement age, and it’s natural for me to be thinking about it more as the year approaches. I asked a few of my friends to try their luck with registering on the Social Security Administration website (please try yours and tell me how it goes). My suspicion is that the older you are—and the more you actually need the information—the less likely you will be able to get it from the website. Among my friends and colleagues, the failure rate so far has been 66.6%. This is no joke if you extrapolate that out across the entire working-age population of the United States.
So what flower of wisdom has grown out of the ashes of my frustration? Other than an inferior product, there is almost nothing worse for a brand than inattention to the tactical user-level interface.
Now, excuse me while I attend to my civic duty as US citizen and web user …
Dear Social Security Administration:
Please sweat the details. Please make the online wall between me and my data easier to climb over. I grow tired quickly, as I am getting older now.
Sincerely,
James Heaton
Absolutely vital points, James! If public authorities were just more ready to listen to this. There are severe problems in “tactical user-level interfaces” in practically all public services. And, as your story implies, this has a lot to do with brand problems of public sector organisations.
I can’t even log in to my social security account. It’s been years, like why is it so hard to just check up on my social security :/
I attempted to obtain Medicare Part D Prescription coverage. After experiencing similar frustration, I blocked out quiet time, phoned, and waited on hold. I too was greeted by a friendly, proficient woman on the phone call. When I apologized for not being able to utilize the website, she responded, “Oh no. You could never do that. We had three weeks of schooling to learn this”. These programs are simply too large for we the people to navigate. 🙂
There is a list of optional questions. You DON’T have to make it hard on yourself, UNLESS, of course, you want to. I only have a High School education and I didn’t have any problem at all, I also watched a buddy of mine accomplish the same thing with no issues. Move to a question you know the answer to, and your problem will be over.
B Chester: Thank you for your note, and I’m glad you were able to get in.
On hearing your response I was hopeful that maybe they had made a change to the process to make it easier, so I went back and tried again (my third attempt)…and I was blocked. There were NO optional questions for me. Just as the first two times I tried, there were four questions seemingly pulled from my credit report, ALL of which I had to answer correctly in order to verify that I am me. This time the third question was one I could not answer: It asked for the date I opened a credit card from a particular bank. Unfortunately for me, I happen to have multiple credit cards with that bank, opened over the course of the last 25 years, so on that question I could only guess which of those credit cards they were referring to. I was thrown out for 24 hours.
I continue to occasionally ask others to try, and sadly the percentage of failures among my peers has held.
I have tried 4 times and failed each time. It’s telling me I have a mortgage on a home. I do not. I have never owned a home. It said I have a car loan. I have never had a car loan in my life. It asked what street I used to live on. I lived on none of the streets provided. It’s really maddening.
Yes, I also got locked. It said I also had taken out a mortgage loan in 2017. My mortgage was paid off 15 years ago. It asked about a student loan that I don’t have. Then I had to make an appointment to apply for Medicare because I don’t have enough points since I was a teacher. The first available appointment was over a month away.
I had the exact same experience as Leslie V. I have no mortgage and never did. I have no car loan and never did. I did not ever live on any of the streets that were listed. And I was given no optional questions. I also was locked out. Very frustrating, and also scary as it made me concerned that someone was using my social security number to get a mortgage and a car loan!!
I am asked exactly the same questions of which my answer is “None of the Above” to every single one… I thought that maybe my identity had been stolen so I obtained my credit report and I most certainly have never had a mortgage, or auto loan…
James, this is not only a problem for your generation. I am a 20 year old college student who has only ever had 4 credit cards yet I cannot create an account. You’d think I’d be asked a question about a credit card instead of my nonexistent mortgage and auto loan.
I got blocked out too. The 4 questions they asked me were totally not related to anything recognizable in my past. My mortgage is paid off, but one of the questions was implying that I took out a mortgage in 2014. That has never happened. By selecting NONE OF THE ABOVE for an answer I was blocked out too, and I am trying to apply for benefits as I will be 65 in a month. I guess I am screwed. The other three questions were nothing I could relate to including an address I have never lived at. Yet another NONE OF THE ABOVE as an answer. I am beginning to think that the older you get the harder it is to get passed the questions just to get an account.
I got a series of questions, answered “none of the above” and was locked out. I called the “help desk” and was told that Equifax gave the questions from my account history. I contacted Equifax and got my credit report. It is what I expected as I have lived in my own house almost 30 years, owe no one, have not had a credit card since the mid-80s and apparently, from their own file, not had my identity stolen. I contacted Equifax who explained that the questions were computer-generated (which database, he did not know) and “random” … as they don’t have much information on old dull me, they apparently had to make them up. My choice now is to wait the 4-6 weeks for Equifax to investigate my dispute or drive a few hours to a Social Security office to get a “pin” number to set up a “my Social Security account.” No one at Social Security apparently has the authority to straighten it out without Equifax even though I have my “credit history” in hand. And it is not a question of being hard but being wrong. I do know every name I have ever used, including my grandparents’ nickname for me. I know I have not had a mortgage in 50 years, nor have I ever leased a car, therefore I have no idea the monthly payment. By the time I fire off letters (snail mail) to everyone listed as a name associated with Social Security, it will hopefully keep someone else from the frustration.
I tried all 3 bureaus as well as Social Security and a failed authentication questionnaire. I actually had a prior Equifax report which I used to answer one of the questions because I did not have the information. I am aware questions are random; some apply and some do not. However, I found it concerning I failed all 3 bureaus as well as the Social Security Agency. The only things that come to mind as to why I have failed the questionnaire would be because the information the bureaus have on file is outdated, there has been fraud committed involving my SS or the website is bogged down. Additionally, since the 3 bureaus are separate entities, it would be hard to know who is reporting to what bureau. Placing alerts on your personal accounts, adding another security layer and monitoring your accounts weekly can help. Good luck to all.
The worst thing about all these questions is that you are SOL if you don’t remember EXACTLY how you entered your answers the first time. Did you grow up on a ST, Street, Lane, or LN? Were you born in L.A. or Los Angeles or New York City or NYC, or New York, NY? Did you graduate from a high school or an HS, or did you leave that part out when you entered the name of your school? You better be sure before you hit enter or else the part of the algorithm which holds the key will cast you deep into Lockout Land.
And all that doesn’t even touch on the problem confronting many if not most women–that of having used different surnames in the past–a maiden name, then a married name. We’re going through this now with my wife, or at least we were until we–uh–got locked out while trying to register her on the website. No, she doesn’t remember how her name was styled on her SS card, which she hasn’t seen in a decade or two. (Nor I mine. I just have my SSN memorized and rattle it off when needed.) But with a maiden name, my surname, and her ex’s name, which she continued using for professional purposes, then allowing for hyphens/spaces, there are at least a half-dozen plausible versions that she might have used.
THE SSA *knows* us fine. We went into our local office and got her SSRI set up; we’re expecting a substantial back payment any day now. That piece of business is done. But it would be nice to be able to log into the website, because then maybe we could discover when that payment will go out.
+1. I’ve been locked out after answering the questions accurately, but apparently, “incorrectly.” Offering a multiple choice for the year I refinanced my home doesn’t work if I refinanced 4 times (yay for low interest rates!). Having a single field for phone number is useless. It would be a little more helpful if they told me what year they got my phone number — at least then I could search through old emails to track down what my number was that year!
Complexity in software that works is magic. Complexity in software that doesn’t work is torture. If you can’t make it work correctly 95% of the time, then just make it easy — have me enter a phone number and call me when you have an operator ready!
John, very nicely put! I’d hoped they would have fixed this by now…
I had the same problem. I did manage to get mine correct the 2nd time. The first time they asked me what year I opened a bank account (about 30 some years ago) and that I no longer have. I then tried to do my husband’s. (Yes, I know, technically illegal.) None of the questions were questions that were prior to my husband and I being married but one thing that tricked me up was that they asked me which street had we lived on…well they gave me 4 choices, one of which said Fawn. Well we lived on a street called Fawn Crest…so was this a trick question or what?
Anyway, I answered none of the above…WRONG! I didn’t fare any better the next time and got locked out. Stupid system.
Now I need to change his address since we moved…can’t. They won’t talk to me and he won’t call. You can’t do it by mail so exactly what am I supposed to do?
I guess I will make my voice really deep and call and tell them I am him. If you think about it, they have no idea who they are talking to on the phone. I could have another man call and feed him the information he needed and they would change the address or reset the account for him but they won’t do it for me….not much security there…stupid, stupid, stupid!
Both my husband and I made multiple attempts to establish a My Social Security account online and failed every time. We ARE geezers but are both very computer literate. We failed every time. Our experiences were very similar to the ones the author of this article described.
I got my account set up the first time. I was lucky. I then tried to do it for my wife, since she hates stuff like this (as someone else said, technically illegal, but give me a break…) I entered *something* wrong on the personal verification section, and am waiting until 3:35PM today for the 24-hour lockout to expire, before trying again. I was going to call, but someone else has already stated they won’t do it for a spouse. Fooey – what nonsense!
Amen.
Ditto to everything posted here except the lucky person who said it was easy. I have a graduate degree and I have been locked out twice. Scary that Big Brother knows way more about me than I do as does any other agency, corporation or computer clown out there. Now if I could just remember the passwords to my other retirement and bank accounts maybe I wouldn’t completely starve to death. 🙂
Totally agree with all the comments! Locked out 6 or so times so far over the past few weeks.
First 2 times was before I realized that you need to unlock your credit history with Equifax before trying to obtain the my SS account. Unlocked my credit and even ran both Experian and Equiax reports to help answer the questions. It locks every time even though I am answering the questions correctly.
At some points it was not even getting me to the page of questions (just locking me out on the first page for name and address). Tried different browsers and different computers. Deleted cookies and browsing history. Closed browsers. Rebooted computers. (I too have many accounts with many different websites and never have issues like this). Got to the questions page again today and am locked out again. This even though I had two credit reports (Experian and Equifax) next to me to help me answer the questions.
Now need to take off 1/2 day to go to the local Social Security office to prove who I am so I can get a copy of my social security report for my financial planner because they won’t mail me this information. Talk about design issues. Geesh….
I hear you, same thing with me. Thought I knew who I was but according to SS I don’t. I have been locked out 5 times and been unblocked, I still can’t get signed up. I even printed my Credit Reports but the questions they are asking me don’t match the dates. So frustrating!
I went to my social security office and there were about 100 people ahead of me. When I walked in, there was a big screen that wanted me to enter my social security number so I could get a ticket. I looked around and thought “you must be nuts”— enter my social security number so it could be viewed by anyone near me, you have got to be kidding.
2 Weeks later, still no access. Whoever designed this must be the architect of ObamaCare’s site!
My wife needed her Social Security statement for her financial advisor. She attempted to retrieve it from the Social Security website and was asked questions from her credit report. She answered all of the questions with answers that were 100% true. Some of the answers were “none of the above.” The result is… “We have suspended your electronic access to your personal information. …Please verify your personal information again before trying to use this online service.” So…because is seems that some detail logged by someone somewhere at a credit bureau (we are not told which one) is wrong she cannot access her Social Security records. She is asked to verify her “personal information.” Is this instruction to go gumshoe all her credit reports to find out what they have gotten wrong, and figure out how to fix that, then fix it and when all that is done come back and try again? Is that verifying her personal information? Or is this just an existential admonishment: “You must know your true self better.” Your genuine truth not being relevant or of value in this case. Sigh.
I too – became locked out from failed attempts. The questions were so nebulous! They all sounded like they could be right, but I wasn’t sure. Each question asked a number of things, so any one of those things could be inaccurate. The name of the mortgage company from 17 years ago, the month it was acquired, and the exact year. Yes or no? I spent the better part of the afternoon (on more than 1 day) trying to get this. I, ended up calling and they seemed very skilled at helping people run the gauntlet over the phone. Government at (not) work?
My frustrating experience led me to seek ‘company in misery’, which you have provided, and thanks.
A 20-year resident and citizen of Israel, I ‘called’ home’ last week to innocently learn what might save me from poverty since arriving at 67.
The multiple-choice questions were so far from specifically-irrelevant to any details of my life; ex: a list of streets I’ve perhaps lived on? Never even heard of any of them, so ‘None of the above’. Same story for the other two questions. Paranoid, I suspected that they had an entirely different guy in their files.
Locked out, of course. Twice. One detail, the ‘prepare yourself’ list includes email address, yet there is no field for it in the form, at least as far as I saw. Whas up with dat?
Once again, thanks for documenting that I’m not a lone gun-man in this episode.
J. Solberg, Israel
Same issue, not able to register/access my own account information on ssa.gov. The kicker is, before they made the “enhancements” to the website, I was able to access it.
I tried to access my account too. I forgot my password, but when it goes to the window to get your password that you forgot it doesn’t like my answers. I used things that I could remember and it locked me out. I tried again to sign in after that and it locked me out again in less than 3 times trying. I need to check my account. I need to see if I need to renew my Extra Help. This is frustrating and pissing me off.
Glad to see this is not unique. My answer to most of the questions was NO — addresses at places I had never lived, phone numbers I never had. I also said no to a vague question about “bank” accounts that MIGHT have included a credit card that I did have — was that incorrect, and lock me out of everything? OR has my account been hacked, and someone else receiving payments. After the 50 minute wait for telephone, only help was to let me try again in less than 24 hours — with same result! I can’t believe there aren’t more widespread complaints. Fortunately we have a meeting scheduled in a couple of weeks — but for now must live with possibility that somebody else is sitting there collecting our money ….. And yes, I am computer literate.
The site asked me four questions, none of which applied to me hence I answered none of the above, and was promptly locked out. None of the accounts they asked about are on my credit reports and I monitor all three bureaus on a regular basis.
I had a similar problem with the mySocialSecurity account creation. All it asked for was my name, my D.O.B., my phone number, my address, and my SS number. All things that I know and can certainly check with accuracy. I haven’t moved recently or changed phone numbers, so that shouldn’t be a problem, I know my own name and birthday, and I triple checked my SS#. I know everything was correct, and yet time after time the website told me to correct my information. Very aggravated, and the website simply told me to go to my local SS office (which is an hour away) and sign up for an account there. Much inconvenient, much annoyed.
So glad I found this website. I was sure someone had gotten hold of my ss number. No it’s not me, it’s them! I just wanted my benefits statement. Sheez.
Both my husband and I tried to set up an account so that we could access our information. I have been on other Government sites without this much trouble. This is frustrating. I know we are not the only ones with the same problems. I looked at other complaints dating back to 2014 and the problem has not been resolved. It seems when they want your money they waste no time in accessing your information and demand that you pay up but if the tables are turned then it takes them until Heck Freezes over before you get any help.
I am one of the LUCKY account holders! My problem is now that I am an account holder they require that you change your password often, (I think every 6 months). I knew what my password was because I had it stored. It claims wrong password! I tried it 3 times and guess what?…..LOCKED OUT! Come on….REALLY???
I think there’s something wrong with their system. Like many others I keep getting locked out.
I want to make an account to use their on-line tools to start planning (I’m 60 now).
At first I thought my problem might be the way they were getting the info and asking the questions such as “How much is your monthly mortgage payment?” Does this include taxes and insurance which are rolled into my payment or just the mortgage? Also since I’m paying an automated extra each month, do I include that? Depending on what they’re using, I could answer A, B or C on that question alone. I also get the credit card question where the correct answer is None of the Above. Is that what’s tripping me up?
Since they told me that the questions are from the credit bureaus, I decided to open a Trans Union account and, lo and behold, there they were, the same questions. I answered them the same way as on the SS site and—I got in and created an account just fine—with the same answers.
I tried another time to sign up and the answer to every question was “None of the Above” since they were questions about addresses, businesses and banks not even in this area of the country. Of course, I’m still locked out 🙁
I am so glad to have found this website! No offense to everyone, but I am glad it wasn’t just me having problems with logging in.
I just tried two days in a row. No success. My co-worker tried. She had all questions that were ‘none of the above.’ It locked her out.
So far, no one has blamed the Russians, but I’m pretty sure they are the culprits.
“I failed not because the website was poorly designed or hard to use.” – I totally disagree with this statement. The ID verification is also part of the design and is VERY POOR. Grade F.
Greg that’s an excellent point. Thank you! Why look at this essential functional element as something separate from the design?
First of all, I would like to say that my wife and I are in our mid-20s, which is relevant because all the information requested to verify our identities is less than 10 years old. Additionally, all of that information seemed to be pulled from our credit reports, which seems pretty logical to me. Nevertheless, we have been unsuccessful, and are unsure as to why. Her questions related to the following:
-current auto loan servicer
-current auto loan total monthly amount
-previous street of residence
-a loan that was closed on a specified date
-a credit card that was opened on a specified date
The first time she entered her information, she did so strictly off memory except for the auto loan amount because it is an automatic payment that has yet to be due. All other questions were fairly obvious except the loan question. She didn’t recognize any lenders on the last so marked “none of the above” … no dice.
The solution seemed obvious: diligently consult her credit report to ensure we are not missing anything. We did so. The result was somewhat puzzling because it turns out that all questions had been answered correctly, unless perhaps we had selected something wrong on accident.
So we waited the 24 hours and tried again. Same questions except the credit card question this time referred to a different card. Easy enough right? We made damn sure that every question on there matched the credit report exactly. The only one we were concerned about was the loan question again … none of the servicers listed seemed to match any of the closed accounts on her report. So we start thinking, okay, maybe one of these servicers is actually being listed by their DBA/fictitious name and that’s why we’re missing it. So we do some research and don’t really come up with anything.
(In retrospect, this name research seems unnecessary because once I decided to try my own hand at creating my account, it appears that the loan servicers listed in the questions on the SSA website are verbatim as they appear on a credit report i.e. DEPT OF EDUCATION/NELN is listed just like that.)
At any rate, after all this trepidation we submit the information and of course she is now locked out of her account until she can call them. You may be asking yourself, “why on Earth do y’all care so much about accessing this site?”, which is a fair question. Essentially, my wife and I obtained a joint credit card recently for the purpose of conveniently splitting all of our bills. We linked all of our bills to that account. For some unknown reason, the account has been frozen and in order to reactivate, one of the criteria is for my wife to furnish her SS card. However, she does not have it, and she spends every waking hour engaged in her business, which is in its incipiency. Needless to say, it is difficult to swallow the idea of going to the Social Security office.
Moving on, now I am definitely curious about this process because of the whole loan question that we were unsure about until I also failed. As before, we pulled my credit report, matched the questions and answers exactly, which in my case were completely unambiguous. Every question had the right answer selection, which we triple checked for accuracy before submitting.
Similarly, my questions related to the following:
-current auto loan servicer
-current auto loan total monthly amount
-previous street of residence
-a loan that was opened on a specified date
-a credit card that was opened on a specified date
And of course I was also rejected. So naturally I had to figure out why a couple of college-educated millennials exercising a combined and very concerted effort could not seem to verify our own identities despite the fact that we presumably had the answer sheet while taking the test! I would still like for that question to be answered.
Admittedly, I have found solace by the reviews here. Yet it is disconcerting and even discouraging to hear about the experience that ensues upon reaching out directly to the humans that are trained to assist with this matter. Any additional insight would be most helpful.
P.S. I do not understand the comment by B. Chester from 2014. There does not appear to be any roulette of question from which I can casually choose. Please let me know if anyone else has experienced this.
And God bless America!
Garrett, thank you for documenting this in such scrupulous detail! Thanks to all who have shared your stories here. It may be time to seek an answer to why this is so hard to fix. Is there some unseen force that prohibits attention to basic usability? I’ll start by asking my congressperson.
Now I know I’m not alone. However, I would rather be alone and get the social security I waited seventy years to claim. I am disgusted.
I also have had three unsuccessful attempts at creating an account, Either the questions don’t pertain to me at this time, or there are street names and phone numbers I’ve never heard of. I will try again in 24 hours with renewed hope, but think I am probably fighting an already lost cause.
I’ve been trying to create an account for my disabled brother to get a Benefit Verification Letter. Today I attempted to create an account and all these wrong questions appeared for me to answer about mortgage loans, monthly payment amounts, credit card lenders, etc. The problem with this is that he has no credit history whatsoever so this has stumped me. Possibly his social security number is being used under a stolen identity. I call S.S. and the rude lady on the phone said to get a credit report from 1 of the 3 leading credit report sites to double-check the info. I attempted to create an account with one of those and I hit the same roadblock. This time it asked multiple choice questions on a car loan, pet insurance, the pets name, and a bunch of crap. It’s very worrying actually.
My sister and I have been trying for a few weeks to get replacement social security cards. Go online, they said. It’ll be easy, they said. We haven’t been able to create accounts, after many tries. My sister actually got to the page with all the questions about credit card, loan, mortgage, etc. but then they locked her out, too.
I did call The Office and was able to give them all the info they needed to prove I was me—things that aren’t questions when you’re trying to set up the account, so far. They unlocked me 3 times and also couldn’t understand why I was locked out. But they won’t let me create an account—all I filled in is my name, address, phone number, and soc. sec. number—nothing I could possibly make a mistake on. My sister’s attempts were the same … minus that one question page—but after that, she was also locked out.
We KNOW there must be something wrong with this site, because I’ve read so many complaints about it—but how are others able to create accounts with no problems?? It seems there are more people that can’t create them, or access their own info, than those that can. I gave up and sent them an application for another card. We also can’t get to the local soc. sec. office. I don’t remember having this kind of trouble the first time I applied for a replacement card—got it a short time later, too. They must be backed up by now mailing them out, with all the requests from people having trouble using the site.
It shouldn’t be so hard to use the site, especially just to get a printout or a new card. Really frustrating. Why can’t they admit something is wrong with their website?
I created an account a long time ago and last week filed for Medicare. For the past 3-4 days, I have been unable to even log in to my account to see if it has been processed. I was given a re-entry account number but guess what … can’t log in to my account. Said page not found. Site checking the OP address says the server is up and running so it must be my laptop … What? Guess I am not alone in this!!!
I created accounts for my wife and myself right after getting the notification that printed annual summaries would no longer be sent. I carefully made note of the user ID and passwords that I created for each of us. The first time I tried to access my wife’s I got a “The information could not be verified” message. I checked, and the information was correct. Later, I tried it and it worked. Mine always worked, until today. So even if you end up guessing the correct answers to those long ago forgotten credit cards, loans and addresses – don’t think that your travails are over. The government gremlins lie in wait still.
I’m glad I found this site. Misery loves company. Twice I have tried to create an account and each time have had to answer “None of the above” to every question. My credit history is very thin, so it isn’t a matter of remembering details incorrectly. I’ve never had a mortgage or a mortgage payment, and only one car loan, decades ago. I called the 800 number and was told the questions come from the credit agencies. So I was sure someone was taking out car loans on my SSN. I was able to check Experian and TransUnion, and those were fine. Equifax, I ran into the same problem with Equifax that I had on the Social Security site—verification questions that had no relationship to my life.
Still, I think if something was really wrong with my credit situation, that would be reflected in the other agencies.
Totally agree with all comments. I was blocked twice. The questions are ridiculous and require that you remember financial details of loans and mortgages from many years ago. I’m going to request to go back to hard copy mailings. The website is not worth the aggravation.
I just tried creating an account and I keep getting the message: “We have suspended electronic access to your personal information. We tried multiple times to match the information you provided with our records, but were unable to do so.”
Apparently Social Security has some wrong information in their system because I’ve been at the same address for 4 years now. I remember trying to create an account 2 years ago and STILL have not been able to.
What, you were able to actually talk to someone at their 800 number? I tried several times to log in to my account this morning, only to have it time out at every attempt. I’m still unable to log in an hour and a half later. So I tried their 800 number. After several attempts the bot recognized my SS number. Then it informed me of some privacy issues. Then it told me I would be offered a survey after I had been “helped” by a human. Then I was put on hold for ten minutes, the same distorted muzak looping endlessly. Then a click, a phone-ringing tone, more muzak, then the survey! No human! Tried again, a 15-minute wait, gave up. Still unable to log in to my online account. All I want is a copy of my earnings/benefits statement. That’s it!
Social Security is a bureaucratic nightmare, run by lifers and time-servers who couldn’t care less about their fellow citizens, as their “technology” proves. And it will only get worse.
I’ve tried making an account several times over the past year and get locked out every single time with info that’s 100%. Every time until today, I didn’t even know there were security questions because it locked me out immediately after submitting the page with my name and general info on it. I’d have gone to the local office before now if it weren’t so terrible, and it’s too painful for me to sit for 7 hours waiting for them to call me, so I’ve put it off.
Today, I tried again because there’s a huge discrepancy in the amount of benefit $ they’re supposed to send me and what they sent me today, and because there weren’t any letters from them in the mailbox.
Turns out there are security questions, and now I’ve joined the club where none of the possible options to their questions were applicable to me in any way. It scared me because it has someone else’s personal info on it, even a list of middle names to choose from which are all wrong and multiple credit card questions and even a car loan question. I don’t have a car, or any credit cards. All I have is my bank savings account. So I printed the page, just in case, and then called social security and waited 45 minutes and they finally picked up. (Usually, it’s over an hour—the past few times I’ve called, I’ve been on hold for up to two hours and then get hung up on. Literally hung up on.)
The person at the other end of the phone was really nice and helpful; they even went so far as “unlocking my account/info” and staying on the phone with me while I tried to create an account. It didn’t work. Twice. He said to go into the local office and see what I can do.
I tried using the free credit report sites, because at that point I was more than convinced that someone is using my identity, and none of the credit reports worked. They “couldn’t get enough information” or essentially gave me the same message as social security did and said I was locked out of my information.
I’m glad to hear that some people who have these problems have had success in the credit reports, but I’m going out of my mind with anxiety over this. I don’t see why the issue with the free, government-approved credit report sites would also be reflected in my trying to make an account. I also don’t understand why the person working at social security had to go in and “unlock” my info for me and then still have it not work. I’m still pretty convinced someone’s using my SSN after all this.
I’m not sure what the local office will be able to tell me, if anything, and I have to wait over the weekend full of anxiety. But maybe I’ll come back and update after going, just in case someone reads this in the future and has the same problem.
Same situation as you—what did they do at your local office? I tried calling and they’re basically useless on the phone. I asked the guy to help me create an account and he said to go to my local SS and asked me if there’s anything else he can help me with (funny, he didn’t help me on nothing xD).
I’ve been locked out too. Numerous times. I may have messed up my application. I wanted to start over. I know my dad’s middle name, the hospital I was born in and my first car model. It is HIGHLY annoying not to be able to get back in.
Glad I’m not the only one…..I will try again and maybe one more time after that, then I will be done with the online portal and will have to call SS if I need them. I don’t remember what credit card I had 30 years ago or the phone number I had other than the one I have now. That is just information that I didn’t think I would ever need again so erased it from my memory :-/
Unfortunately SS will not do anything about this so good luck everyone 🙂
I’ve had an account set up for myself and my wife for many years. Everything has been great until today when I went to log on and check my account. There is a new layer of security now that requires an e-mail or text message code to be entered. Hey that’s fine no problem. The message says it may take up to 2 minutes to receive the text. It also says you must enter the code within 10 minutes. It takes 22 minutes for me to get the code so I can’t get into my own account now after properly entering my username and password. Sad sad sad.
I tried again today, and was locked out again. In the three years since I authored this article, after having what amounts to the same frustrating experience over and over again, I can see that the managers of this website have gone through the time and expense of improving the website’s appearance significantly. But they have failed to address the fundamental problems of utility that is at the heart of my article and is reflected by all the commenters who have taken the time to tell their stories of frustration here. Big buttons and attractive graphics are not the solution to a flawed user-level interface. The brand consequence in my experience today was worse than the first time because it is so clear that other work has been done. So this is not neglect but obstinance. I can only ask again: Why?
There are better ways to achieve a sufficient level of security.
Most of the true and correct answers for me were “None of the above,” but this question stuck out in particular: “On which of the following streets have you NEVER lived?” (emphasis mine) with a list of streets that I’ve NEVER lived on, and the option of “None of the above.” What’s the correct answer?
I think what the question was getting at was which of these addresses has absolutely no association with any aspect of your life and has never served as a reportable address for anything including office locations you have had in the past, but it did not ask that. It asked on which of these have I never lived and as a statement of fact I have never lived on any of those streets. Am I being locked out because I feel compelled to answer honestly instead of sleuthing some semi-transparent intent within this inherently unanswerable question?
I still do not have access to my Social Security information and I sit here locked out and frustrated for absolutely no good reason that I can see.
Just took a retirement class that instructed us to sign up to My Social Security. The instructor told us about the questions and had a tip. Some questions are deliberate trick questions to prevent identity theft. So some answers are “none of the above”. I still believe it is overkill for the website. The Chinese already have all my data.
My granddaughter, age 21, tried to set up an account to order a replacement SS card. She has one credit card and has never had a mortgage or car loan. The security questions included mortgages, mortgage amounts, car loan and amounts, credit cards other than the one she has, and addresses that she didn’t recognize. Needless to say, she got locked out, twice. So, I thought I would try to open an account for myself. At age 63, I have several paid-off mortgages (some of which had been sold to other lenders), numerous car loans, credit cards, etc., plus numerous past addresses. Voila! I got in on the first try! (I did answer ‘none of the above’ on one question regarding a retail credit card.)
Finding this article as well as the numerous comment entries has actually provided a sense of relief for me. Thank you.
I also attempted to open an online account for SS. And I also ran into the IDENTICAL PROBLEM everyone else here has run into. None of those questions applied to me, not even a listing of a street I lived on. So obviously I entered that it does not apply to me. I was immediately locked out. SCARED ME SOMETHING AWFUL!
I immediately contacted by phone and gave all my information so they could verify it was me. I explained what had happened and actually shared my fear that possibly my identity was stolen, and loans taken out using my name, and false addresses being used for my name. The person I spoke to said, “Ma’am, you have been locked out because you answered all your security questions incorrectly.” But I tried to explain that I did not answer them incorrectly. If they did not apply to me, they did not apply … period. The person unlocked the site for me to attempt a second time … which I did not do. I asked for a number to check to see if possibly I’m a victim of identity theft—it turns out that number is for Experian?
I’m still highly upset because I did not need this, on top of everything else. I’m still rather a bit scared as well … not knowing what is going on. But seeing this article, with everyone else having the same exact problem, gave a little bit of comfort. Thank you.
It’s been YEARS since this article and the website still doesn’t work.
It’s infuriating.
I just went to the social security office and there were 50 people waiting to be served by the measly 5-6 workers there, finishing about 1 case every 30 minutes at best. Do the math.
So I left, hoping that maybe, just maybe, the social security website would finally work. It’s been 3 years since I last tried (I was denied access then because I, too, am not “me” enough). Guess what? SAME PROBLEM.
Government is a joke.
I am pretty tech-savvy but I tried to log on to the social security website to try to get a statement for my financial planner and got locked out. I couldn’t remember the EXACT answers to the questions—was my first car a Buick or did I enter Buick Century? So they said they would mail me a temporary password within 2 weeks. It didn’t arrive. I called the SSA and spoke with a lovely woman who was absolutely no help at all. The best that she could do was tell me to request a temporary password by mail again, which I have done. I also requested a written statement, which can take 4 to 6 weeks. My next step is to contact my congressman. I figure since this Congress has done absolutely nothing since January, he owes me one.
I also tried to create an online account and was blocked after I was unable to answer their questions. Not that I did not know them; I just could not remember telephone numbers, mortgage company names, and other credit questions from 30 years ago. I called to get my account unlocked but was told I had to go in person. I have tried going in person several times only to walk away because the wait is several hours.
Okay, I feel better after reading these comments! I, too, was apparently permanently blocked because I didn’t answer one of the questions “correctly.” I’ll have to find a day to go sit at the SS office to see about getting a benefit statement. It would be nice if we had a choice of how to access our information.
Of course, I’m environmentally aware & don’t want to waste mountains of paper. But I have a master’s degree in information management & can’t navigate the site correctly. Only providing electronic access (& I use the term loosely here) automatically ignores the surprisingly large percentage of our population that doesn’t have access to the internet and/or has no computer skills. The digital divide grows. It’s very frustrating.
I am in the middle of filing for SSDI and tried to create an online account in order to check the status of my claim.
I was not able to create the ‘My Social Security’ account and was told to contact the administration by phone.
Same thing over the phone.
No human was made available and the automated system said it could not do anything for me.
Come to find out, through Google, that you can not create an account if you have locked or ‘frozen’ your credit.
With the recent Equifax breach, both my spouse and I froze our credit.
Looks like a multi-hour visit to the SSA local office is in my near future as I refuse to lift the credit freeze.
We have been dealing with this exact thing for my son who is on SSI and is trying to get a job. After many attempts (and lockouts) on the website and many hours at the local Social Security Office, we are no closer. They just say, “You aren’t answering the questions right.” He has no credit so even the credit reporting agencies can’t help us. We’ve only had three addresses in thirty-one years. We’ve provided his actual Social Security card, his birth certificate as well as both mine and my husband’s, his picture ID and a bank statement. Would a DNA sample suffice?
I have been unable to set up my account and have been locked out several times, once with my credit report sitting in front of me. One problem is that there are some answers that are partially correct but not completely correct (names of institutions that are close but not completely correct). They also use acronyms. My mortgage recently adjusted but it was not clear which amount they were asking about. So you end up guessing. When I called I was told it was only an hour wait. I am quite frustrated with the process. The intent is good but the execution, poor. Someone should print these comments and send them to the head of SSA …
I could not get in either. I finally called and was on hold for over an hour to ask how they could help. They made an appointment for me and I went in. The person who helped me get set up was able to do it in 5 minutes. I still have no idea why I couldn’t do it myself but was very grateful for the help!
Good to know I can call in to make an appointment. I’ll try that next. Thank you and to all the rest of you for sharing our pain on this. I’m also feeling better that it is not just me.
I’ve logged on yearly for many years. Today I got an email reminder to check my account. I tried to log on and after entering my correct username and password, I was told, “We tried three times to match the information you provided with our records …” I tried once, not three times. I know my username and password were correct since I cut and paste them from a file and they worked correctly last time.
I write software, often with web interfaces for a living. For very secure sites, when someone fails three times, I lock them out for 3 to 15 minutes depending on the sensitivity of the data. That’s very strong security and how brute force attacks are stopped. Locking them out for 24 hours after one attempt is ridiculous!
All I want to find out is why my SS benefits are to be the same in 2018 as they are in 2017 even though there is supposed to be a 2% Cola increase. I don’t seem to remember the answers to the questions: I do know my dad’s middle name though perhaps I misspelled the name of the street I lived on in the third grade or perhaps I don’t remember which college major I put in as there are 3 (English, Music and French). In any case, I am locked out.
So, I’m locked out … for 24 hours. What is the reasoning behind the 24-hour lockout? Can the bad guy not just try again in 24 hours? But, there is no bad guy, just me, and I need a new card. Why make me wait 24 hours? I can give it a go right now if you’d let me. I’m sure I can guess the entirely forgettable details of life. But, at this rate … this could take days. I can’t imagine how much I’ll resent the system on day 3, attempt 3.
I have tried to get into my disabled mother’s account with her credentials and got an account suspended notice. So I tried after 24 hours and there it goes again—wait another twenty four hours. Man, what gives.
Now it’s worse: I was just told on the phone that after 3 tries you can’t try anymore and you have no choice but to go physically to an office, prove who you are, and get a paper code to bypass the system. I called my senator to tell her: THIS IS BROKEN!
I tried the website a few times 3 or 4 years ago, and I saw questions that many people mentioned here. Even though I answered all correctly (trust me, I keep log of EVERYTHING in my life), it locked me out.
Fast forward to early 2018, I just tried again, but this time it asked me about my W-2 Box 5 and Fed ID Number which I copied from the actual W-2 page right in front me. No luck. I tried the second question which is to provide the last 8 digits of one of my credit cards (I tried two different ones I’ve had since the day I got my first one). Boom! Failed. I was locked out again.
Someone needs to have his/her pension sacked for creating the most useless government website ever.
I have realized that these questions are totally bogus. It asks everyone relatively the same questions. I have never had a driver’s license so I don’t have a car loan and I have never had a home loan so that didn’t apply. It locked me out. I phoned and the agent could not help me. She said that those questions are sent from the credit reporting agency Equifax and that they have no control over the questions they ask. I told her that it is impossible because I just checked my credit accounts. Like Equifax, Experian and those things are not even listed on my account. She seemed all ready with a response to my questions and a little defensive. She proceeded to tell me that I would have to go into my local office to verify my identity, then try to log in online after my visit and obtain the information I need that way. What a crazy way of doing business. I cant believe that they let the credit bureaus handle access rights to information of people’s work history and benefit information.
For me, it just spins and spins. It’s a big JOKE. Our government at its finest. It resets saying “connection interrupted” or goes nowhere. It’s a mess, just like our entire political system.
The bottom line is that the more computer involvement there is, the more annoying it gets. Hardly can wait to get retired and move away from this so-called “technologically advanced” world. This is getting insane and more insane day by day.
I tried just half an hour ago to create an account for the second time in like three years and was of course, locked out again.
There is a new, optional feature where they ask you for information off of a W-2 or a credit card, to give extra verification. Then you get the questions that don’t apply to you anyway. I have never driven anything but old cars that were passed down to me by a relative, so I have never had an auto loan in my name. Ever.
I have never had a mortgage and I only have two credit cards. Have had them for years and neither of them were listed in the questions. Checked my credit report and saw just those two credit cards and good credit score with the suggestion that I apply for either another credit card or a loan. I would think that if someone had stolen my identity, that would have revealed itself long ago. That and the information provided off of a W-2 or a credit card should be proof enough without the questions. And I think it’s shady that anyone would be locked out AFTER providing additional, sensitive information such as that.
Honestly, I am now beginning to think that the point of this site is to make people actually go to a SS office! I know it sounds crazy because there would be no benefit in that for the already overworked workers (they have to be sick of answering questions about the website they cannot answer), but that’s the only thing that makes sense. Either people cannot get in to create an account, or they got lucky and created one once, then could not get back in again.
This is shameful, actually. In today’s world, a website as important as that should be easily accessible.
I’m locked out. My husband is locked out. If the dog had a social security number he would probably have better luck. All we want to do is change our mailing address. How difficult can that be? So frustrating!
Had exactly the same experience – locked out. Provided EXACT information – checked it multiple times. Then presented with confirmation questions that had nothing at all to do with any aspect of my history. Very strange. Off to the local office I go…
Forgot my password to my social security account. Forgot the answers to the barrage of security questions I have to get right, so I have to be mailed a reset pin. It takes almost 10 days to get this reset pin and it doesn’t specify exactly how to use it so I just assume it’s a temporary password. Put it in twice and get locked out of my account for 24 hours for putting in the incorrect password. I really don’t want to order another temporary pin, guess I have to call them.
Well, yes, I’ve been locked out three times. Twice I have never gotten as far as the security questions.
Finding this blog and all the posts has been reassuring to me! I was beginning to think that I really don’t know what my name is.
I am so frustrated but somewhat relieved to know I am not alone. I also have been locked out after two attempts to set up an account.
Those security questions are terrible! Who can remember that stuff and since the Equifax Breach, we have our credit frozen! I would have to pay a fee to unfreeze them and am still not sure it would help to have the reports.
I did sign up for Medicare online, but without an account set up with Social Security, I am unable to check the status or anything else!
I have made an appointment at the Social Security office, but it’s 3 months away. I guess it will all work out somehow, someday, but it really should not be this difficult.
On hold right now … I did not attempt to log in 3x’s, I tried twice. Yes, it is true, I may not remember the password and thus provided the ONLY answers I can recall!
LOL, Social Security has to take into account that when people finally get around to calling them, well … they are not precisely “spring chickens” anymore!
WOW! The waiting time now is AN HOUR!
LOL, UNBELIEVABLE!!!
To put this whole ordeal into perspective, I’m 19, trying to log in to my SSN to get employment dates from the only two jobs I’ve worked in my life. Security questions were asking me about mortgage loans taken out this time last year and loans for a car in 2012 — I was 13 in 2012 and absolutely could not have taken out a loan for a car as I had no credit score and I COULDN’T EVEN DRIVE YET. Also, they asked me what first name I have used previously with options like Zambia — WHAT? I managed to get a credit report from TransUnion that shows nothing unusual, the only credit card being the one my brother got for me. Experian and Equifax both ask me similar questions to the SS ones.
Trying to set up an account to get a social security report is a nightmare! I had the answers to all the security questions and it still booted me off. One of the questions was ‘Select a phone number that you have now or had previously’ … I only saw one recognizable phone number and it was a phone number my spouse had years ago, so I selected none of the above. Didn’t even apply to me! This is our government alright … jacked up and a worthless waste of time. Booted out for 24 hours, can’t wait to see what happens when I try this again in 23 hours. Grrrrrrrr.
Thanks so much for this commentary – yes, this site is just insanely difficult to use. It’s a site that will largely be used by the elderly, for starters, but beyond that, I’m sure there’s plenty of older people (and other users) with good web skills, who keep track of their logins – like me – who find it absolutely impossible to log in. My user ID has changed, to all caps, I figured that out with one login fail, then entered my password on the next shot, and got locked out again, then went back a week or so later for another try, and this time thought I’d get a password reset. Good luck to me. I know the answers to my security questions, but who knows, maybe I didn’t capitalize something, or whatever, because it locked me out again, for the 4th or 5th time. I am now forced to get on the effing phone, because this stupidly useless site is impossible to log in to. This absolutely should not be so difficult. If they’re turning the site into Fort Knox, then they need a chat feature to walk people through this.
I reset my password yesterday (required after 6 months) and was able to log in after reset. I tried to log in again today, and it locked me out stating I had attempted to log in 3x. Now states I can try again in 24 hrs. Very buggy site.
Add one more to the list.
My son, 19, tried to register and all the security questions were easy … “none of the above” … since he never had a mortgage loan, credit card, auto loan, etc. Filled it in, clicked next and voila! Locked out for 24 hrs. I heard a “what the f***” comment and proceeded to tell him to get used to it because you will encounter many, many situations in life with government agencies, insurance companies, etc. that will bring to mind the acronyms … SNAFU and FUBAR.
I reset my password yesterday (required after 6 months) and was able to log in after reset. I tried to log in again today, and it locked me out stating I had attempted to log in 3x. Now states I can try again in 24 hrs. Very buggy site.
I was able to successfully log in after 24 hrs. Browser stored previous password, and that resulted in the lockout after 3x.
I tried to sign up and it locked me out and instructed me to call Social Security. I called and the agent said because I have a lock on my credit reports, I had to go to a local office to get a personal identification number that I could use to activate an account. After waiting at my local office for over 3 hours, I had to leave. Will attempt again another day.
I was shocked to find out how many people are totally frustrated with this SS website, the sign-up, the block out AFTER answering questions correctly. I gave up and just tried again only to be blocked. They were supposed to send me a new password in the mail … and never did. So, I have no idea where things stand and when you call their 800 number, you have some ridiculous 3-hour wait to speak to someone. Very troubling, time consuming and downright frustrating after you spend a lifetime waiting to retire and receive the benefits. I also received a letter in the mail giving me a confirmation number to check claim status … but I can’t get in because of all of the aforementioned!
I have tried to log in to the SSA account for the last 2 weeks without any luck. I know the answers to all 3 security questions and I know my answers are right but I keep getting blocked. I was trying to sign up for Medicare and called SSA (on hold over an hour). The lady told me I could sign up under another web site area in SSA and I did (without having to log in to my SSA account). But I still can’t log in to the SSA account. There is an option to receive a paper statement of SSA benefits, which I have done, but I would still like to be able to log in to the site (to check the status of my Medicare application for one thing). I also was told I would get a new password in the mail, but it hasn’t come yet. So I will have to go physically to a local SSA office, which I am, of course, dreading. But that’s the way it is. I feel there must be something wrong with the website with so many people having problems. Yes, a very frustrating and troubling experience for all. This really needs to be looked into by someone, who??? Don’t know.
Last year, I tried to set up an account with Social Security online. You guessed it, I was locked out because of the security questions. Of course, they don’t tell you which ones you got wrong, so you wonder about all of them. Today I signed up for Medicare and went to try again to set up a Social Security account. Yep, locked out yet again for not knowing what credit card I might have gotten “around 1997.” Twenty-one years ago??? There was a question about what street I may have lived on. Because I do have a good memory with things like that, I recognized the obscure street that was our mailing address when we were in an apartment for just a few weeks when moving. I won’t go through the other ridiculous questions, but I really want access to my own information! Calling SS now.
When I tried to create an account, it would not let me. It did not even ask any security questions, just said I can’t do it.
There is a potential trick question they ask about: Which of the following streets have you NEVER lived on? I believe most people are tricked into answering “none of the above.” If you really think about the question, you probably should select any one of the streets you have NEVER lived on and not none of the above. If anyone wants to try answering that question this way and you’re not locked out, please post your results.
I got locked out also while trying to log in. I tried my password and user name correctly. Locked out for twenty-four hours.
I’ve been having trouble with my online account for years, almost from the beginning. I’m posting here because there is no way to register a complaint on the SSA website besides, I’m not me! My first pet’s name and street name have changed!
I have also been locked out. I have lived and worked in 5 states in the past 20 years, and they clearly shuffled some phone area code and exchanges, but I simply cannot recall the exact phone number I may have had at one of those times.
Another similarity I find between Who Wants to be a Millionaire and the SSA security questions, is that the multiple choice options make me question my answer. That other choice looks like it could be right so maybe I am not remembering the name of that finance company from years ago?
I managed to get back into my account today, but find that it requires a code being sent to my email account EVERY TIME?! …not just to reset my password but simply to login. ~sigh~ My issue may be how rarely I use the website, expiring passwords are such a joy…
Same here for my husband and myself, both formerly in computer fields and with help from a professional in computer security—me.
24 hour lock out after one wrong attempt.
In the case of my husband, four “none of the above” answers to mortgage and auto loan questions that are verified not to be on our credit reports.
Kathy,
Thank you for your comment, and also a congratulations of sorts: yours is the 100th corroborating comment on this post. There has apparently been no movement on this issue in the 5 years since I first wrote this in a bout of frustration. I’ve never actually gotten in, but it is some solace that other frustrated souls feel less alone and less that they are somehow at fault.
It would not accept my user name although I accomplished all that was required.
My experience was exactly the same as yours!! Got locked out once—they reset me for one more try while on the phone with them and I failed again. I asked, “How do people steal your identity when I can’t even access what is mine?” No brilliant answer to be had.
Now I will have to spend a day of my hard-earned vacation to sit patiently at the SS office because they are only open from 9-4, Monday through Friday and I work from 8:30-5:00 everyday. This is more difficult than it needs to be. I can get a loan to buy a house without knowing what year I opened my JCPenney credit account.
I am 63 and trying to get myself prepared to retire. This is the government, so what should I have expected … certainly not simplicity.
I have experienced an eerily similar scenario. I had (have?) an existing mysocialsecurity account, but forgot my password & was locked out – still am locked out. That was in Feb 2018. SS said they would mail instructions to me on 4 Feb, then again on 18 May, and once again on 12 Jul. So far, nothing has shown in my mailbox to regain access to my online account. And it is a disappointing hour plus wait to call SS (800-772-1213) and then be told they cannot help me thru tech support or any online access. Extremely frustrating!
The problems continue, even after a person finally gets all the answers right and opens an account.
After an undetermined amount of time, the site seems to disable your password.
No documentation could be found on this.
So, each time someone wants to access their data, they have to request a lost password.
If you attempt to log in with the saved password from your browser’s last access (even though it was updated at that time) it will fail, and you get locked out for 24 hours before you can ask for a new password.
Frustrating!
So frustrating. Have all the correct info but locked out for 24 hrs and to recover a password takes 10 days by mail! Can they make it any harder? No wonder SS is a mess.
I also cannot get into my account. But even worse, the 800 number always says it is closed! I am calling in their business hours, and this has not only happened these last few weeks, but last year when I needed to reach them.
What is the trick?
FAIL. FAIL. FAIL. FAIL.
My wife and I both are unable to get back into the Social Security website! The site has an extremely major fault to it which makes me wonder why nothing has been done to make it accessible.
And for those who claim the site has not been a problem for them, have you tried recently to access your info? There’s a good chance you can no longer get back in … like the rest of us who can’t. There’s a very good chance I am a person who has more web experience and accesses more sites than most people do AND I CAN NO LONGER ACCESS THIS TERRIBLE SITE!
The Social Security website receives an F- as having the most flawed security of any website I’ve ever visited.
I opened an account which says I have to go to my e-mail account and get a security number but then I have to sign back in so that makes my security number void.
Oh my — when I tell people how I am locked out after each, umm fix. They look at me suspiciously, thank you. It feels really good to know it is not me.
Blame the we don’t care, we don’t have to, CRAs. They allow just about anyone to access your files to provide corruptions of your legal name/addresses and a variety of unknown claims, at least unknown to me.
Until they clean up their act, never. Much more than website access is a problem, look at congressional reports. More inaccuracies than should ever be allowed.
Gonna go call SSA.
I can’t log in online because I have two middle names and the site only allows for one middle initial. My number and my name (when only using one initial) do not match their records. I went into the local office yesterday to see if they could set me up. They claim they are unable to do so, although they could print me a statement on the spot. The solution to the problem? I was told that I would have to legally change my name.
Seriously, can’t seem to recognize any one of the four phone numbers the social security website has me linked to. Strategy? Check off each number through process of elimination and eventually, I’ll get the correct one checked off.
Problem with strategy? I get locked out each unsuccessful attempt.
Result? I need to call social security to verify my identity so they can unlock my personal info so I can try again …
Me too!
I have used the “My Social Security” site before and even had to update my password. Now on two occasions with my correct password (I write these things down), I was denied and locked out — no security questions, no “forgot your password?” link — just locked out. I too need a statement and tried to order one using the alternative way listed. I was told it would be mailed to my registered address. Nothing. Generally the SSA is quite well-run and efficient but their website is now an inept, dysfunctional disaster.
I just tried to register at the SSA website. Every single question had no answer choice that applied to me. It thought I had a mortgage, for example. I don’t. Concerned that identity theft was happening, I rushed to check my credit score. No problems there. The SSA clearly has me mixed up with someone else, which is more than a little alarming!
Dear James:
Thanks for the informative article. SSA used to post-mail SSI benefits each year to all. A few years back, it decided to save the money and stopped sending info by mail. It claimed to have saved $20 million a year in printing and postage charges. I do not understand why, since all my 401K plan administrators send quarterly statement of my account by mail. Mail expense is a part of business.
Yogesh
I work at a job where my email address ends in “ssa.gov” and I can’t access my account to apply for my retirement benefits. I will have to make an appointment, take time off from work and pay for parking to apply for my social security.
Using the ‘mail me my credentials’ option I thought I’d get a prompt letter via USPS. I have tried this twice. I never got the letter. I can only conclude they never mailed it, or it was intercepted. I am still locked out.
I failed many times. One question asked about a loan I had paid off many, many years ago. I never got it right because the company listed as the answer was bought out by another company that bought out the company I had the loan with. How in the hell am I supposed to know that? Absolutely ridiculous. I even went to my credit reporting bureau and they didn’t even have this loan listed….sheesh. What a bunch of malarkey.
Same problem. Our government has bad information about me.
No, I didn’t ever live on the streets listed.
No, I didn’t get a car loan in 2006, I paid cash for a new car on a different year. Not 2006, maybe that’s another case of identity theft?
All bad information, and yes, I do remember the streets I lived on, till you go back before I was 8 years old.
Unverified garbage in = total garbage out.
How about the Feds be required to ask us about its information? We just might be able to help.
I am trying to get my code to get a copy of my 2018 benefits, but it doesn’t come thru for 15 to 20 minutes. I have tried so many times they locked me out … There was a chat lady that I ignored … my bad … now I am waiting for 50 mins on the phone … I need these papers for HEAP. So I need it now, not in 15 days by letter. This website needs help.
I cannot access my account because I had a password once, a longtime ago, and my e-mail has changed so they can’t verify that either … I have tried 4 times today … this is not an easy access … which is good. But at least let me get into the system and then give me the 3rd degree.
This is a common problem. Social Security affects just about everyone that survives to retirement age, but this website insanity is useless to most people not brought up to speak fluent computereese. It seems as though about 10% of those at or near retirement can use “My Social Security”. Everyone else is locked out!
James, thanks for your post. I just tried to set up my Social Security account so I could access my data and got locked out (at least for 24 hours). I know that I answered all of the questions correctly (the bank they listed for my mortgage, for instance, went under during the financial crisis and was bought by another bank that has had my mortgage for the last 10 years but was not listed). Likewise, the auto loan I just secured with another bank (not listed) even though I applied for one through my bank (listed). Of course, I’m pretty sure I got my middle name right. Next time, I’m going to answer the way I think they want me to answer even if it isn’t correct. Wish me luck!
I experienced the same problem on the first attempt. I am computer savey. THIS IS CRAZY!! What card I took out in 2009? What loan I paid off in 2014, really?
When I tried 3 years ago to set up online access and failed multiple times, I was told that the SSA used Experian to verify. Well, my “legal” name, as presented on my as card and driver’s license, is different from the name I have used for over 30 years. I have never used my first name and use my maiden name as my middle name. Ergo, Experian thinks my name is X but the name at SSA is Y so they can’t put them together. I was recently denied the renewal of my state ID because of this problem, even though I had all the pieces of paper.
I used to have hair until I tried to get the new 2019 benefit report. I’m not a dummy with a master’s degree and my wife isn’t either with a PhD, but neither of us could get our information.
The phone system is a joke. It takes 20-25 minutes to get to a recording that says your wait is over two hours.
To improve SSA, I say fire all employees and start over. It can’t be any worse!
I must have won the lottery (sorta); I initially applied for my husband who has issues on computers and big surprise—I was locked out from the account for 24 hours.
OK so I figured what the heck, let me see if I can set mine up. Not even close to retiring but wanted to see if I would have better luck … guess what, mine worked with no issues??
I will try again with his and double-check information in case I just missed a trick question … I hope the rest of you that go back and retry have better luck the 2nd, 3rd or 4th time you try (hopefully before you toss the computer out the window)!
It was so frustrating!!!
I’m temporarily living here in the PI. I’m trying to set up a SS account online. As I’m not using my mailing address in Portland anymore, I’m having a hard time retrieving my old account … feel so helpless.
So true. For months I had been intending to set up a SSA online account, and this weekend I finally took the plunge. Good, easy-to-understand website. I jumped through the required hoops and got to the security questions, pulled from my credit file. Although I had to think for a second or two about the first three, I was able to identify the correct answers from among the choices (or at least the answers which I know to be correct beyond reasonable doubt) … then the fourth question: “Did you ever have any of these phone numbers?” or similar wording. It gave me four choices, of which two were from a former residence in a different state. That is, they were from the exchange in that state. I don’t remember what my phone number was twelve years ago, sorry! So I picked the one that looked vaguely like it could have been correct. Next screen: locked out! Now I have to try to get through by phone to a live person at SSA (after waiting an hour and a half) and hope they can help me. “Um, I can tell you the color my house was painted when I was nine years old, does that count?!!” Pathetic.
I had much the same experience. Except I called twice and the second person was snippy and claimed that I was at fault for not knowing the information in my own Equifax Report. Someday, they will have to go through this type of BS themselves, and I hope they have more trouble than they create for the rest of us.
I’m locked out and not even able to get to the questions. The message says for two days in a row that there were three attempts to enter the account so it’s been suspended for 24 hours. That’s after one attempt to get in each day, and I don’t even know if there was a mistake in the login. I called SS and there is over an hour wait and I don’t have time to keep on phone that long.
I, too, have been locked out!! A week ago, I was able to access my information. Today, using the exact same user ID and password, I am locked out. And yes, the questions do not necessarily relate to my life. The same thing happened to my sister a month ago. Contacting them via phone was useless. She actually had to wait for them to send her via ‘snail mail’ a temporary password. They would not/could not send it via email. Ridiculous!
Soooo true!! I’m locked out because I can’t remember my “dream car”? How many years ago? I’ve lost my SS card. It’s awful!! Can’t get a replacement.
I fully emphasize with you. I actually successfully filled out everything the forms asked for and was advised that I would receive a confirmation via email. That was last month. I never received anything so I went online to see what was going on. It locked me out. I called their #; they unlocked it and told me to reregister (sigh). Ok … have attempted to do so but it refuses my information!!!
Ok, well, my husband signed up for Medicare and at the END of that dumb procedure, it said “now go to your nearest office with your birth certificate and citizenship papers or MAIL them.” So I called Social Security and after an HOUR she BEGGED me to “not MAIL them but go in person” and so we are going to do that. IT ALSO SAID “to check the status, create an account”—well DUH. Same thing. We have no mortgage or car loan, and all the questions locked us out. TWICE—maddening. So we printed all the “you are in our system and here is your # to prove it, so bring the evidence to your local office and we will finalize the application.”
The nearest office is an HOUR away. Is it me or is this VERY stressful? Further, since we have a US passport and driver’s license with all THOSE repeated ID checks, WHY is this so impossible?
My mother-in-law had the same problem. She is 86 and her husband, who took care of everything, has just passed away. She needs information for several matters that only SS can provide. She tried to sign up and no way could she answer the questions that were asked to prove that she is, in fact, herself. She tried to call SS and was told that the wait time was an hour and 45 minutes. The nearest office is over an hour away. Frustrating!
I can not register for my Social Security account. I’ve been trying so many times…
Same here. I was even looking at my Equifax report while answering the security questions. My SSA now uses Equifax. And I STILL didn’t answer the questions correctly, according to the SSA Site. (I know I, in fact, DID answer them all correctly).
So. What gives My SSA??!!
It’s like voter suppression … they will do everything in their power to prevent me and everyone else from getting what they deserve. Because I gave incorrect answers to enroll in Medicare, I have to wait for 24 hours before I can try again. The next recourse was to call the SSA 800 number, whereby someone would answer me in 2 hours. This is just NOT RIGHT.
Here’s my tale of woe:
I also could not recognize some loans (from the distant past), in order to sign up to my SSI account. The questions were different the second try, so I was actually able to sign up.
However, years later I moved to a new address. I moved in the month of May; in June, I called Social Security to change my contact information and direct deposit info. I was told the check would be deposited into my new bank account in August. I believed the Social Security Agent until August rolled around. The check was still being deposited into the old bank account.
I logged in to my SSI account and discovered that my old address, phone number, and bank account still appeared in my profile. I updated the information — this time online. Now, it’s October. Today the check should have been deposited into my new bank account. NOT!
Just hung up from speaking to Tracy. She took all my updated information and assured me the check would be deposited to the correct account next month. Wanna bet November rolls around and that check will still be deposited to the wrong account? I think I’ll be going to my local SS Office next week just to be sure the update was actually updated. Wish me luck.
P.S. The SSI website has no place to document problems with the website. Haven’t found a way to get IT support either.
We are just about at our wits’ end. My husband is trying to set up his “My Social Security” account to check the status of his application for benefits. We also do not remember the answer to some of the questions, such as “What of the following was once the last 4 digits of your phone number?” Give me a freaking break. We have to look on our own cell phones to get our number now when people ask for it and you expect me to remember the last 4 digits of a former phone number. Ridiculous! He is now locked out and has no choice but to call that nice lady to find out what the last 4 digits of a former phone number actually is. You were spot on in this blog.
I created a Social Security website account. I cannot log in. I do not know why. I passed all the I.D questions to set up. It tells me my login name or password does not match the records. I will have to go to the office to see my records. I hope they can help. They say there are a bunch of browser settings to check or change that may help. I do not understand what they are talking about. A bank was able to divert my SSA payment to a new account without even asking me. I cannot see my own account information. I am 72 years old.
James, I have gone beyond frustration with the SS website and with their phone services. For a month, I have called nearly every day just to try to speak to someone but I get a recording and music for an hour, two hours, two and a half hours until I just cannot listen to that blasted recording again without wanting to go postal. When I finally did get someone after a day of waiting 2 hours again, I was told that they could not give me an appointment to discuss my issues but that they would send me a letter letting me know when someone would be able to call me. I am still waiting for either to happen. If we have offices in just about every city, then why do I have to call BFE in Timbuktu just to be told that they do not have any appointments at this time and they can’t answer my questions? If this is how they do business, then they need to let people register a year ahead of age 65 and not just 90 days. It is an endless loop of nothing but irritation.
I forgot my password … forgot answers to questions … will have to wait at least an hour … “Your calls are very important … Your calls are very important … Your calls …” (Tax dollars at work)
Just had a similar horrible experience with the Social Security website. Phone help also is useless as minimum wait time is 1 hour. The battery on my cordless phone does not last that long.
I tried to create an account with full name, full social security number birthday…”Social Security Administration cannot verify your information.” I was not even asked any security questions.
Deborah, I happen to have also tried yesterday, and I got the same message you describe. It felt as if my Social Security number is no longer any good.
I found this post through a Google search trying to resolve my own problem, not identical but related.
While trying to create my account so I can access my data, I somehow surprisingly made it through the gauntlet of ridiculous questions. The next step is to create my account, the first part of which is to choose a Username. It is not allowed to be my name or SSN…which makes sense…
…but I’ve spent the last 15 minutes trying different combinations of different words, numbers, letters, and symbols, and NONE of them show as “available”. I’m not even using words at this point, just random letter and number combinations, and even those are not available.
And even if they were, I’d never be able to remember the Username so it would be worthless regardless.
I am dumbfounded by this. This is pretty much the exact opposite of helpful.
Thanks for sharing your story, at least I know I’m not the only one shamed by this terrible process that SHOULD be easy and transparent.
I have tried to get past the questions multiple times, maybe 8 times. I have to wait 24 hours to try again. I tried calling and was told my wait would be 1 hour and 20 minutes. I decided to wait 24 hours.
I am 65 and want to receive my relatively small social security payment when I am 66. Don’t know if I will make it in before my birthday.
It doesn’t even tell you what information was incorrect!! There’s no way! I can’t wait for them to take over health care.
I have not been able to get into my account for over a year. Every time they send a code in the mail or email it fails. I want to scream — I am so frustrated.
Dude, I get locked out of MY own account every month just because I can’t remember if my password has a ! Or a ? And sure enough, to find that out means a 24 hour lockout. Like wtf. I’ll forget my password just to have an easier login. It’s ridiculous and yes, EVERYONE has this same problem. Like you wondered … it’s the latter. Social security does not want ANYONE to feel comfortable. Heck, even making sure my address is changed so a check comes to the right address has yet to take effect despite my going to the office itself and changing it 3 times. I call up and they say go to your office. I go the the office and … they say go online. It’s f**king ridiculous.
All I want to do is notify Social Security of a change of address. Simple? No.
Unable to find an online form. Called several times which resulted in a 90-minute wait on the telephone for someone to help. When the line was answered it was immediately disconnected. Cannot sign in as email address and server have been changed in the move. Tried to open a new account and was denied as I am already an account holder. Three trips to the SS local office with not even a form in outer waiting room to pick up, fill out, mail in. Have to wait to see a living, breathing employee. Medical conditions prevent long periods of waiting.
I have now failed 3 different attempts to sign in on the SSA website. I apparently don’t even have the correct spelling of my own name, don’t know my own birthday or don’t know where I live, because I can’t even get to the security question section! My wife has also been locked out twice. We are both physicians and do almost everything online, but somehow we seem to be at a loss on this website. Ugh! Time to make a phone call …
Ay Yi Yi !!!
I too have been locked out of setting up my Social Security Account. I tried initially, yesterday, failed and had to wait 24 hours to try again. I failed again. The questions they asked didn’t seem to apply to me. It looks like they must belong to someone else with my name, maybe? But I do know my social security number and my name and where I live, and I did enter that correctly. Am I an idiot or are they? Gee Wiz! Please, Social Security Administration, make it easier for me to sign up online for my account information.
I also had the same trouble: I received emails stating I had a message in the mysocialsecurity gov account but was unable to log in because 2 questions were answered incorrectly. I don’t know why, so I called social security with a wait time of 1 hour and 35 minutes but with the option to have them call me back so I chose that. And the lady was very nice — she gave me temp password so I went back to the sign in screen, entered my info and then it said it will text the security code but I never got one. I tried 10 times and nothing. Then I dialed them again with a wait time of 55 minutes but no call back option. While on hold a security code was texted to me so I typed it in and was told this was not the security code they sent. I am extremely aggravated and upset. Why can’t they just tell me what the stupid message is?
I live in Thailand, medically retired US Military. Born in USA, retired here three years ago at age 50.
I have been getting SS Disability benefits since 2001.
Recently the US consulate here started refusing to issue income verification letters to be used for Retirement Visas for Older Americans living in Thailand. They say they do not have the staff nor the responsibility to verify looking at two pieces of paper.
So I have to print out benefit letters that are dated and have not been issued longer than in the last six months.
I logged into the VA website, no problem. I got my VA award benefit letter.
Going to the MySocial Security site, I had my user ID, and my password, from the account I set up 3 years ago, when I came here.
Those do not work. I have the list of the three questions, and the exact way I typed the three answers to those questions. Those do not work. I get locked out. I call their office, in Washington.
I am on the phone long distance for two full hours. At midnight till 2 AM my time, on the other side of the planet.
The helpful man on the phone asks me again: name, social, birthday, city I was born.
He asks me, what is the address we have on file for you. I give him my last address. No, that is not it. I give him my first address in Thailand, my current address in Thailand, my home address in Pittsburgh, my ex-wife’s home address in Ohio. None of those are correct.
I tell him, “Look, all I need is a benefit letter, showing I make X per month from disability.”
He says, “You need to answer the three questions, cases match.”
I say, “I have the questions, I am putting in the exact answers that I gave three years ago.”
He says, “Well if they matched, you’d be in.”
I say, “Okay, so one part of the site says I can get an emergency password emailed to me.”
He says, “No our security has been updated, that part no longer works.”
I say, “Okay, I cannot get a password emailed to me. How else can I get a password?”
He says, “You can go to your local social security office … Oh, but you live in Thailand. The office responsible for you is in the Philippines. Hm, so you cannot do that.”
I say, “Yes, I’d need to get a flight, and pay for a visa exit, and figure out how to get a visa to fly to the Philippines. Arrange a hotel.”
He says, “Well, we could mail a password to you at your current home of record.”
I say, “I am guessing that the address you have on file for me is not where I am.”
He says, “Correct, but I cannot tell you where it would be mailed.”
……………
……………
“So, sir, what do you suggest I do?”
“Try really hard to remember the correct three verification answers, tomorrow when your account no longer has a 24-hour lock on it.”
“I am saying again, I am typing the same exact three answers I registered with, three years ago. These are the correct answers to my three questions, which I wrote down also three years ago. I am typing them correctly.”
“If you were typing them correctly, you’d gain access.”
……..
……..
……..
“Sir, I cannot believe this is such a problem. Do you know are there other people having this problem? Locked out with the correct answers?”
“I do not know your three questions, nor your answers.”
“Are other people complaining about this issue?”
“I would not know sir.”
“So what do you suggest.”
“Try really hard to remember the correct three answers … or fly to the Philippines.”
“Can I change my address of record, then you can mail me the letter?”
“Yes, once you verify who you are. Until then, I cannot help you.”
“Okay. Thank you. I need to go now.”
I hang up.
(Because I do not want to go on a tirade on this guy about service in the Persian Gulf, America the beautiful, and fruited goddamn plains, and what we proudly hailed at Fort McHenry under the guns of the British, and dead comrades who were also proud members of the United States Navy.)
WTF
Then I see this site. For those of you with a local office that you do not need to fly or swim a thousand miles to get to, you can thank your good fortune that you have an office that you can drive to.
Social Security Accounts online. What an epic FAIL.
So many times, my husband and I have been locked out of our accounts, mainly because of us mistyping
part of our password. User error, yes — we are wrong. Okay I get it, they want us to be secure. BUT, have another way of us getting into our accounts, rather than locking us out for 24 hours. Sometimes, you need this information and cannot wait a day to get it! Why not have us answer a Security question or two like other secure websites? Send us a secure code through our email? Come on SS, get with the program and give us another way to access our accounts!!
Yep, the security questions are really out of sync with the right person. For example, in early 2017, I had to lie by stating that one of my oldest daughter’s friends was MY friend. I figured that I had to lie after being blocked a couple of times. I was fortunate that I still remembered her friend’s name.
It is a FACT that these credit agencies don’t have their data 100% accurate. I think one of the three agencies thinks my son is still living at home. He left in 1999.
It appears that some will need some luck just to access their SSA account and don’t forget to lie.
The surprising thing is that there aren’t thousands of stories like yours online and hundreds of thousands of readers’ responses. These government bureaucracies are designed for collective solutions, not individual concerns. They use the data that comes from studies of large groups to write the legislation. It is evidence-based. There is no evidence-based standard for the most important element of the program; the public interface. Consequently, there is a built-in failure for individual users seeking individual remedies.
The employees are being paid to be the Rosetta Stone between evidence-based legislation and the all-too-frequent individual exception. In my experience, most of the SS and Medicare employees are pleasant but incompetent and truly uncaring. But what can we do about it? It’s not like there is a competitive service that you have paid into for 50+ years that will address all or any of these issues.
I was surprised when you wrote you were going to contact your congressman. That will likely come back to hurt you if the congressman’s office contacts an individual at a specific government building that you have dealt with. Try visiting one of the offices in person, which is frequently necessary because the website and phone lines are malignant. It’s like the government is making the hole smaller and smaller as we are playing our retirement years golf.
I, too, am unable to log in to the site. Even though I’ve used the same username and password (successively) in the past.
Why is that? It’s beyond frustrating.
Yup. Locked out while attempting to register. On the first page. With the admonition to “correct your information” without saying which information was deemed objectionable. Not sure I’ll even try it again after the lockout expires. Websites for all kinds of commercial and financial institutions employ protocols to coax enough verifiable information out of you to confirm identity. I’ve never been told to just go away. Something fixable is amiss here.
I hate trying to access my social security account. No matter what I do, it blocks me. When I attempt to set up a new password, it does not let me. This has been going on for years and I am sick and tired of it. You email me telling me to check my account and, then, I can’t get in … This is a flawed system.
Couldn’t even get past the first page and I have been locked out twice already. I entered everything perfectly.
Thank you! Wish I’d found this page sooner. I just spent 4 hours sifting through old credit reports, new credit reports, files and records for all the accounts my husband and I have ever had — because SSA won’t accept our true and accurate verification answers. Same thing happened with trying to get into my Equifax credit report. (Thanks a lot, Equifax.) I was scared silly that somebody had stolen our identities. Relief! At least it’s probably not THAT. Doesn’t help me create an SSA account though!
I am also locked out after having had to speak to someone last week about being locked out and going through all the steps to create a new login and password. At first I thought it was because I had installed Apple’s latest update and then came upon this site to see I’m not the only one.
My wife just tried to register. I was by her side while she did it. It was much worse than what you described. In our case, it asked questions for which the correct answer was almost always “none of the above.” It asked which bank financed a house mortgage in a certain month. It was financed via a credit union by a mortgage company that had no affiliation with a bank. So the answer was “none of the above.” They asked which private company she got a credit card through in a certain month. Again, “none of the above.” When we were done, it locked us out.
Most of the time when I try to sign in to my SSA account I have a problem with my password not working. I keep very good notes on my user name and password. I have it correct, but I still cannot log in. And after 3 tries, you are locked out for 24 hours. Very frustrating. So after the first error message you need to say I forgot my username and password even if that is not true.
I keep getting locked out because of the security questions about a mortgage loan (which I don’t have and have never had), then the follow-up … how much is my mortgage … then the next one was about a loan I got in 2017 which I never did … never have nor have my parents … then the street I lived on … none … so … I answer none of the above to all and wow … I get locked out. So dumb. I’m 24 and have no credit cards or loans. So this is really a pain! And we have one building and it’s a minimum 2-hour wait everyday!!! Everybody lines up outside. Must only be like one window in that building.
I just went through something similar. I too was asked a series of questions about cars, mortgages, etc., to which I answered “none of the above” to all. Reason being … they were asking me about things that had occurred within the last 3 or 4 years, but I haven’t lived in the country for almost 7 so I have none of the things they mentioned. Almost like someone was using my SS#. Strange!
I cannot create an account in order to change my address, in order to get my Medicare card, which I needed a week ago. I cannot get past the security questions!
I am a smart lady. This is my first month on Medicare being I turn 65 this month.
Already a bad experience!
My wife and I will be driving to the local social security office later today, because their website will not allow her to access her already established online account. We verified her username first, because we had forgotten that. They told us her username, so we entered it. Then we clicked on “forgot password” and it asked us to enter her username on yet another page. We did so. Then we entered the SS number, D.O.B. etc, and got a pop-up message that said her account could not be verified. I suspect it was because our email address had changed and they dropped her from the system because they failed to contact us when using our old email address. Yet, that same system disallowed her from opening a new account, since an account had already been established. There is no way to change her email address unless we log in. Cannot log in. Round and round it goes.
First time creating a SSN account and failed. I entered everything correctly, but every time I hit continue, it told me to “check your info, something’s wrong.” After three attempts, I was suspended from accessing my information online.
“We have suspended electronic access to your personal information. We tried multiple times to match the information you provided with our records, but were unable to do so. Please contact us.”
So I called, and the auto-reply said I had to wait 1 hour and 45 minutes. I hung up straight away. Now I am suspended from even creating a SSN account, and I will have to waste my time either calling or visit their office in person. I give up.
My experience exactly. And now I’ve been on hold for an hour trying to call in to get access to my online account.
The same thing happened to me. I failed twice. The first time because I couldn’t remember a phone number I had over 20 years ago; the second time because I was asked what credit card account my HUSBAND opened 47 years ago before I’d even met him. WTF??? I understand that they’re trying to protect our security. After all, when social security was created, our numbers were never intended to be used for identification purposes by everyone from landlords to employers. But why not ask something about ME that happened 15 years ago rather than something that happened 47 years ago to my HUSBAND????? So now I’ll have to spend an entire day at my local SSA office adding to some poor bureaucrat’s already burnt-out schedule when I could so easily have just done this at home …
The reason people can’t pass the security question is that they are using a couple of outsourcing companies to verify our identities going back some 40 years. I know this as I worked in state government for the Department of Revenue who uses them. Unfortunately, I can’t remember either of the names of the companies we used but they are used throughout the world.
And as you see, their information is not entirely correct. None of the questions I was asked ever had anything at all to do with me. So only a handful pass, while tens of thousands fail. However, when you contact the entity you are registering with, you pass their security with no problem usually as they ask questions unique to what you’re specifically trying to do. It sucks that the company they use has such misinformation on us.
Disappointing. This is not an easy button, but an all day headache.
Love the post — and absolutely correct. I (apparently) couldn’t verify my info either, and in fact, I am certain that some of their questions didn’t apply to me in *any* way at all. I tried to call, as their website said, and after a few jumps was met with a “there are no representatives available.” Not a “you will have to wait an hour or two ’cause we can,” but “nobody is home … period.” It was 3 in the afternoon on a Thursday, if that matters.
Crazy!
I am on my 4th … maybe even 5th attempt to get back into my SS account. Soooo frustrating.
I am a representative for my brother … they sent a reset code … failed.
This is so frustrating because now I have to go back to social security so they can send me another letter with another code or temporary password. I know my security questions … they are written down. For goodness sake! They need to fix this.
I too was locked out of the SS app. I was and still am very frustrated, irritated and so on. I’m a 62-year-old widower just trying to find some simple information. What it comes down to is (I can’t say what I’d truly like to) … I guess I’m not entitled to know my own business per our government.
I have the same problem; I was locked out 3 times.
I followed all the instructions for setting up the my Social Security account for my disability benefits. When I signed in and got the prompt to send the security code to my phone, I entered the code in the designated place and I got a message stating that it cannot go further because some of the data entered does not match what is on file. This does not make any sense, since I entered proper information on myself needed to set up the account. I do not understand what is happening. It is Saturday, so I cannot reach anyone to help me until Monday during the business hours of 7AM-7PM. This is very frustrating to say the least.
A different look at the same issue reported here over and over.
I was actually able to establish an online account for myself and helped both octogenarian parents to set up theirs — successfully!! All working fine until last week when my father needed his 1099 so I can do their income taxes. And of course, he was not able to access his account and got locked out successive times even though the username and password entered were 100% correct (and obliviously, both mine and my mom’s ARE accessible, using the SAME passwords that were used when the accounts were first set up!). So he calls the 800 number help desk, gets through on only the fifth attempt. Side note: he is somewhat hard of hearing even with hearing aids, and is non-ambulatory, but gives the answering operator all of the info requested (name, DOB, SS#) and asks to have his account unlocked. She then asks (we were on speakerphone) who he is!!! When he responded again with his name, she said he “DIDN’T SOUND LIKE YOU ARE 89” (!!!!!) and said that because she couldn’t verify that he was who he said he was, she WOULDN’T do anything and that he would have to go in person to the nearest SSA office. My father simply thanked her and said goodbye. I was FURIOUS. Other than the fact that it is virtually impossible for him to go to the office in person, I could not believe the comment about not “sounding” 89!! As a retired army employee (34 years, SES civilian, PhD engineer), I cannot believe the rudeness of the so-called help desk and the total impotence of the online system. And we pay taxes to support this joke.
I think the “my Social Security” website is a disaster. I have to get a security code emailed to me every goddamned time. I’ve been locked out a few times and every time, you need to choose a new password. It’s horse shit. Social security has made the web site a cluster you-know-what. It used to be good. Now it absolutely sucks.
I couldn’t remember if I set up a login, so I requested my user name, entering in the required information. The page displayed itself back to me, but did nothing. I tried clicking the next button several times with zero results.
OK – maybe I didn’t set up an account.
So I tried to do that, and was told that I couldn’t create a login for the social security number (my own number) that I entered in. This either means the system doesn’t know my number (after years of receiving benefits) or that I already have a login (which I can’t tell from the previous exercise) or that there was some other error (which it doesn’t want to divulge to me). As a computer professional, I am not impressed.
I got locked out three years ago. Reset it and have been locked out three more times. I remembered to do it around my birthday and have not been able to see the info now for three years.
I hate for anyone to be this frustrated but am grateful I’m not the only one. I’ve been locked out 3 times and sat on hold for more than 2 hours. The last time I was locked out I had just entered my info for the first page and reached the page with the credit questions but I had to go help my brother (I take care of my brother who has Alzheimer’s) so I hit exit assuming I could come back and answer the questions. Oh no. Even though I didn’t get anything wrong because I didn’t answer anything, I’m still locked out. I tried to explain to the woman I talked to that I NEED to get my disability paperwork started, and I have to be able to use the little time I have to do so, and she just said there wasn’t anything she could do. She told me to go to my local SS office. Please. My “local” office is over an hour away. Because I can’t leave my brother, I can’t even go to the grocery store much less the Social Security office!
Me too. Attempted to set up my SS account today and they didn’t even ask any questions except name, SSN and mailing address. “Cannot set up for this number.” Online research indicated that a frozen credit report or fraud watch on Equifax could cause this. Sure enough my credit report was frozen and Equifax “unfroze” it when I called them. Tried SS again and got locked out. Will check again in 24 hours, but after reading all this I’m not hopeful. I do not have a SS office anyplace remotely near me!
Equifax is the credit bureau that asks the security questions. Write your representative and ask that Equifax be fired. Equifax is a baaaaad company.
When you go into the social security office, they have posters and a TV program that talk all about going online to apply so that you don’t have to wait. But it seems to me their system is broken or you would have to wait 2 hours so that they can tell you that you need all kinds of paperwork and you can do it online. So now you have to make time and go back again because online still doesn’t work and they can’t identify you.
No, you’re not the only one. I’ve been having this problem and that’s just to retrieve my account information. I can’t even get past the “address” page.
The site is absolutely ridiculous — The fact that they stopped giving us annual statements and now make it impossible to go online and set up an account is unacceptable!
Same here. Failed and locked out. But what’s worse is waiting for a temporary password twice and never receiving one. Extremely flustered!!!
I can’t get that dang system to email me my verification code (which I’m supposed to get in two minutes) … it never freaking comes.
This authentication system is such a POS … government quality at its not so finest.
I am so aggravated. I tried to apply online and did all the steps. I got to the end and they sent me a code by email and it did not go through. Then it said I took too long to enter, but I did it on time and it did not go through. They sent me another one and the same thing happened. It is so frustrating for a person who is not a big computer person. Only the government can have the worst sites. We pay enough in taxes fix this problem. I got the same thing when filing for unemployment a few years back. Obamacare was a nightmare I was told, but if you did not get it you were fined. What a racket that is.
Thank you for sharing this — good to know we are not the only ones. My uncle is out of the country trying to set up his account. He has no US embassy in the country he is in so he cannot gain support there. He got locked out. He verified it 1000x before selecting and submitting but it still didn’t recognize him. He is at a loss for what to do. I’m trying to help him but can’t since I’m not him. So frustrating!
I just tried to get into my ss account putting in my user name and password. I was told they couldn’t find that information. So I thought I would try to open a new account and I was told I already have an account with that information. So if that is true why can’t I get into my account? You are correct in that they are keeping my info safe from me. It’s very frustrating.
I have been trying to obtain my lost SS card. It was stolen along with my ID. I tried online but I could not answer the questions — not because I couldn’t remember but because of the questions. They asked about a mortgage I took out and the payment I make, then a student loan I took out, all within the last 3 years. I haven’t had a steady job nor did I go to school in the last 3 years so I did not have a mortgage nor a student loan so they locked me out. I went to the SS office with my birth certificate and they told me I need a picture ID. Well, yes, since it was stolen, I do too. When trying to get an ID you need a SS card. How do you get out of the catch-22?
Oh, does this sound sooo familiar. My husband’s SSA-1099 (or W-2) never came in the mail. Yes, retirees are apparently still getting them in the mail. I was able to get in, as I had already set up an account several years ago. But my husband never made it after about 5 tries and with a very patient SS service person. So she said to go to free credit reports and get one from Equifax. The same questions that stopped him were on my requests to get a report from Equifax that stumped both of us as we tried to set up his SS onlne account. Then to get the credit report from Equifax since we could not answer the question involved sending them all sorts of paper trail evidence to prove he is who he is. The government is either paying Equifax to do this, or Equifax is getting something out of this. The other two reports are not detailed enough to know which credit cards we got in 1980 or something like that. UNBELIEVABLE …
To completed our 2018 tax record paperwork, my husband had to go to the SS office and wait and then show his driver’s license. He asked to have another copy mailed to him (via the nice SS service person) and that was going to take 10 days.
This really needs to be investigated. We are retirees, but we do MOST everything online and like you, cannot remember things that happened 50 years ago. And who would have kept all that paperwork? I think I might write AARP, too, because they do seem to pull some weight in recognizing issues that older persons have to deal with.
Thanks for your article.
Here it is, March 18, 2019, and I’ve been locked out four times and haven’t gotten into my account since last year. The password reset codes sent to me by mail don’t take. The SSA system DOES KNOW MY USER ID however.
The good news is I filed my retirement application in person last week. (Several people explained personally how the online application process can deal you real problems, like the wrong benefit amount on the low side.)
My next contact, as usual, will be the SSA phone callback to get my latest question answered.
Solve the account access issue? Someday.
It is unfortunate how many “security” people misunderstand security. Making things hard does not make them more secure; it only makes them hard. Security can be thorough and easy.
Dear SSA,
Please hire some trained professionals and fix your horrific approach to security. I have been unable to create a new account for months. I will probably have to file for a tax extension simply because I cannot create a login on your site.
I hope none of my tax dollars are paying for this 😉
For over 30 years in my profession, I dealt with credit reports in all sorts of cases. TransUnion and Experian are fairly good and accurate, but Equifax is totally off the wall with the info in their reports. I used to wonder why any lender or other business would use Equifax, when it is so inaccurate. And how in the world does Equifax stay in business? Both the IRS and SSA use Equifax, which is probably 90% of the cause of all the problems accessing the site. My own Equifax credit report was so inaccurate and Equifax refused to correct it, so I just locked it down myself and I will never open it up (not that I could anyway, since Equifax never mailed me the pin to do so). Lucky for me, this was even before the security breach at Equifax. I visited my local SSA office to get the pin to set up an online SSA account, and so far I have had minimal problems. Consumers could shut down Equifax if everyone would lock down their credit report.
Thanks for writing this as tonight I thought my head would explode. We don’t routinely use department store credit cards so I had to guess—Macy? Target? I was locked out.
My question is—did you ever get in? Is there a report we can read to study or a cheat sheet? UGH!
Susan, thank you for asking. I have not gotten in. This reminds me though that I should try again.
Thanks to all of you who have taken the time to share your thoughts and experiences with this.
Yes, I have been unsuccessful in creating my account. I needed my statements as required by the US Embassy for a completion of my Children Report Born Abroad. It is really frustrating, due to the fact that I am presently living in Cambodia and can’t just walk into the SSA Office. This is sick; requested via mail, it takes more time to respond than the time the consulate has given me.
I just tried to get on ssa.gov because they don’t send the future potential benefits in the mail anymore, I guess. As soon as I logged in I was told “We have suspended electronic access to your personal information. We tried three times to match the information you provided with our records, but were unable to do so. You may try to access the electronic information again after 24 hours. Please verify your personal information again before trying to use this online service.”
I haven’t tried getting on there in about a year — I have no idea what they’re taking about! I’m 63 but I can’t imagine some poor 75-year-old trying to get through this. At least I know now that it is just BAD and it’s not me!
AND — oh, I just have to wait around 35 minutes for someone to get on the call because I’m locked out. Um … no. No thanks. Of course you’re overwhelmed on the phone.
Get it????
I am having a similar problem … with a twist. I was locked out so I called the help desk and actually was very pleased with the assistance I received (and all within 5 minutes). Advised that Equifax supplied the questions (Not SSA), I went to the annual credit report to obtain a current copy of my credit report to assist in answering the questions.
Amazingly, to obtain the credit report from Equifax, I was presented with the SAME 5 questions to identify myself on the Equifax website. Total panic set in … What if I answered these wrong just as I was told I did at the SSA site? I answered the questions exactly the same as I did on the SSA site and was given access to my credit report … So, they were wrong at SSA and right at Equifax? Baffling … but I got this licked now …
Wrong — 24 hours and 2 minutes later, I tried to create a new account with my new credit report in hand. Got to the 5 questions and answered them directly from information from my Equifax credit report but the dreaded warning screen came up and locked me out again.
My quest will continue later today …
Count me in the 66.6%. While applying for Medicare benefits, I was locked out of a “My Social Security” account because of the “security” questions that had no relevance to my personal or credit history, such as non-existent loans, credit cards, and streets and phone numbers that do not apply to my past. I was told the SSA uses Equifax for their security question resource. Equifax denied online access to my free annual credit report using similar obscure/irrelevant questions. There are hundreds of complaints that Equifax has done this to many consumers who then obtain their credit reports through other means and find that the credit report does not indicate any of the “security” questions are, in fact, relevant. Consumer protection agencies and regulations have been gutted, so I presume we must all simply accept this as normal, as frustrating and inefficient as it may be.
April 29 2019: No sweat, everything is still the same.
Thank you to all of the above posters. I too was asked four of five questions that had nothing to do with me. As I was trying to answer them, I told my girlfriend that they must have me mixed up with someone else. I thought one (none of the above) was to try to trip you up. Two (none of the above) was odd. But when all of my answers were (none of the above) and then sent into blocked out land, I knew I was screwed. I’m not going to wait the 24 hours. I’ll go down to the local office when I can and ask for help.
P.S. Has anyone ever wondered why a government agency (SSA) that keeps no money in their office or anywhere near their office needs a security officer with a gun ?
Five years later, it’s not any better. Wouldn’t accept my saved password, so clicked “Forgot password.” Entered my name, SS account, DOB. Tells me an account can’t be found so I should create one. So I went through the account creation. And then it tells me I already have an account. I’m in fear now I’ll have to go into the office — and I hear it’s like the take-a-number scene in Beetlejuice. Sigh. My tax dollars at work.
Good article. Four of my family have attempted today to create an online account and have failed due to not knowing the answers to the questions. Very frustrating!
I tried yesterday to log in to my account online and the system told me it submitted my credentials 3 TIMES (which is definitely NONSTANDARD — never had that happen before) and they were wrong and locked me out. The 800 number was going to take 40 minutes if I held and 1 hour and 10 minutes if I asked for a callback. I didn’t have the time for that kind of nonsense.
Today I called my local SSA office they told me to come in and bring ID and they’d unlock it for me. They supposedly did and gave me a temporary password to get in with. I tried it a bit later and was locked out again! Also tried a password change with no luck.
Sent them an email from their site to let them know about the situation and asked for a reply and for it to be fixed. We’ll see what kind of response I get.
Yes, the same thing happened to me. I called SS after being locked out and they “helpfully” suggested I have a copy of my credit report with me next time. So I obtained the TransUnion one, answered everything correctly, and was locked out again. I may give up. The phone call to SS had a 50-minute wait.
I “helped” my husband set up his account and had no problems.
Nothing has changed. My husband and I have been protected from ourselves for two days now. I’m going to break down and call.
April 2019 – I am approaching my 65th birthday and I am locked out! Fun times! I am a retired tech writer, user documentarian, software tester, and librarian. Locked out for 24 hours. Not thinking that 24 hours will cure their problem with my information.
Great writing! I am having the same problems that you are having!
I will be 65 this year and need to sign up for Medicare by way of SS. My health insurance agent said the web site is no good and to call or visit the office!
I have an account secret code number but it does not work!
BPS in Chicago
I too am locked out. I had to call my daughter who’s only 21 and was applying for a credit card. It asked which of the following she had: one of the choices was a home refinance from a bank and she was very worried that someone may have taken a loan out in her name. What should she answer? I said None of the Above. Being a young person she was so scared and confused. It’s ridiculous that they make up questions on things we personally don’t think are important or are very confusing or worrisome as to why they would be asking something totally unrelated to you.
I realize this is an old thread, but felt I had to contribute this: What, we ask, does one expect from a United States government bureau (… of the People … for the People …) which in this day and age operates a website that is unavailable after business hours and on weekends!!! I mean, really? Even bloody Netflix can be accessed 24/7.
So, at least 5 years later the SSI.gov website is STILL TRASH. They don’t know a thing about me, it seems, as I answer the questions correct every time. “Which of the following banks have you used in the past?” Uh … none of those. “That’s not an option for this question.” … But I’ve never used any of those. “Yeah … but you totally did.” Oh. Okay. I guess you’d know better than what bank I’ve used.
Not to mention that sometimes the website literally doesn’t work, AT ALL. Forgot my username? Okay, here’s my basic information to retrieve it. Oh, your “Next” button doesn’t do anything except load this same exact page with my information still sitting there. Cool.
I am long from needing to collect benefits but was curious to check my data as it has been several years since I got a printed statement. So I tried to register and couldn’t get in. Told me to try again in 24 hours. The problem was it asked so many dang questions, it was more difficult than registering for my doctor’s health portal. Asked me who my mortgage was with. It was confusing because it listed the company my mortgage started with but not the one it is currently with, and “none of the above,” so I wasn’t sure which answer they wanted. There wasn’t any way for me to qualify my answer. Also, it asked me about an auto loan that I supposedly opened two years ago. I had NOT opened an auto loan so I assumed it was a trick question and picked “none of the above.” That also got me concerned, wondering if someone had opened an auto loan fraudulently in my name. So I pulled my 3 credit reports and everything was fine. I don’t know where they’re getting their information from. Any business that had to compete to stay in business would go out of business with this type of website.
Same problem. I couldn’t answer the security questions about my credit. Claimed I had a car lease I did not have— my credit report did not reflect this either.
Sad to see this lengthy ticker of similar failures.
I think (based on generic alert) I got locked out because I took too long to refresh my memory on credit details I rarely think about (due to automatic payments) or because it required me to guess about an account established 19 years ago.
The next day, I evidently stumbled on a user name that wasn’t available. Seemed unlikely since I used a somewhat strange one. Then tried an odd string of characters but the display suggested that it had been claimed. So maybe I was timed out, locked-out, or just bored the system. Couldn’t tell based on the cryptic alerts.
Calls to the 800# were almost as bad. I don’t really want anyone to pirate my benefits but somehow it seems I could get some kind of info. If the system has all this detail, couldn’t they track me down to ask if I’d requested a web account? Maybe provide me interim info but hold on to the cash for a few weeks? (I’m a decade away from filing for benefits, I can wait on that.)
My very busy spouse is now standing in line at the local [thank goodness we live in a larger city] Social Security office. The trick online security question for us was the monthly amount of our mortgage. We pay every two weeks and we picked the wrong answer. I called and waited 40 minutes to talk to an agent. The agent took the security lock off so I could try again. I did the free annual credit reports and found that they all agreed on a number for the mortgage. I couldn’t figure out how they came up with that number because it definitely did not equal two payments. The SSA agent told me to use two mortgage payments per month, not 26 payments divided by twelve and not to include property taxes. WRONG ANSWER! Second try online — not a single question had anything to do with our financial or personal history. Car loans in 2014 and 2016, when our last one was in 1994. Got locked out again. Why does SSA bother with an online portal that is difficult to navigate for older folks and only works smoothly for a small fraction of users? Arghhh!
You posted this in 2014? Here it is, May of 2019, and people are still complaining about it. I’ve tried twice—second time with my most current credit report in front of me. I may have gotten the answers right, but it took me so long to find them, it likely timed out. Two down. Okay fine, you didn’t get the question right. But, the security standard for lockout is usually thirty minutes. Thirty minutes is more than sufficient time to thwart any brute force bot attack.
Incredible! Am going thru the same hassles due to needing an “official” statement from SSA (the lender isn’t interested that I can show monthly deposits from SSA for years). Another example of good intentions gone amuck 🙂 -G-
It doesn’t recognize my logins, passwords … am locked out … It is the only way to know what our amount will be since they eliminated paper in the mail … Who knows what is going on with this?
Personally I think it’s very abusive to seniors and others as well. I’m worn out from this. I will miss out on health care, but at this point I am ready to call it quits. I am too tired to go in, I am too tired to sign up. If this is supposed to be simplified I would eat my hat, but we all know it is not. There are no optional questions. I should not have to go in for this. I’m ready to toss a hat in the air and simply forget it.
What is the point of this if nobody can log in to this? Is it to prevent us from getting medical care as we age? That should be interesting especially since our immune system goes down and we still need to get out and get supplies.
I’ve been locked out multiple times, having entered none of the above. It asks if I ever lived at my sister’s address. Of course I entered none of the above and then get locked out all over again with no optional way for me to set up an account 🙁
I think it takes everyone’s options, jumbles them up and, in the programming, it gets everything mixed up so that nothing is applicable to particular individuals, but it doesn’t know that so we always get it wrong. I highly question the accuracy of the databases 🙁
I found the answer to this problem. It is not on the social security’s end. It is on the phone providers’ end. They are blocking codes. I called my phone company and they checked and removed that feature and as soon as they did, I was able to get the code.
I was able to register without any problems years ago. My problem is that I sign on the FIRST time and it locks me out for 24 hours because I attempted 3 times without success. Whhhhaaattttt!? I hadn’t logged on in weeks. This does this on a near regular basis. I reside in Asia now trying to apply for benefits. I believe My SSa can only be accessed during their operating hours. If I login during non-operating hours, it doesn’t say “please try again during operating hours,” it appears to just block me.
I am currently past my second attempt to get into my account. I am getting upset with the process myself. Like you said, “I’m not me enough to access my own data.” They asked me what street I used to live on. I’ve only been on this earth for 20 years — how would I know? I don’t remember things from more than 11 years ago. I’ve never had to buy a place to live. I loathe to go all 20 miles just to visit in person!!! I am a busy person.
I’m leaving this comment in June 2019. I have now tried 4 times and have been locked out each time. Some of the questions were looking for information going back more than 20 years! Seriously! Also, I’m pretty sure I answered all of them correctly and still got locked out. You get one chance and then have to wait 24 hours to try again. After reading the below comments, I am starting to feel like there is a conspiracy going on!
It’s a very frustrating website. I didn’t know my login password and decided to just guess. After two failed attempts I expected they would send a link to let me reset my password. NO!! Instead I was informed I would be locked out for a week. Huh? I was being punished? The site is NOT user-friendly, it’s mean. I really wanted to complete what needed to be done after being on hold for 30 minutes over the phone with the meanest person ever. I give up and will just go in and sit for 3 hours … I don’t see any other way.
June 2019, and the site still has quirks. I can get past the security questions (at least so far), but SS has sent me a temporary password and it DOES NOT WORK! I signed in fine, with my username and password, answered their questions, received an e-mailed security code (which worked), but then entered the temporary password, typed it correctly, and so very correctly, three times, and boom. I’m locked out for 24 hours.
This is a joke. What is wrong with the agency?????
I encountered the same thing. After having spent my career as VP of a technology company that built these types of sites, I have to say they have missed the boat. They need to hire a company to check for user-friendliness. Also, it does not make sense that when I log in every month that my password will no longer work. I was never told I needed to change it?
You are not alone on this issue, I too had a lot of trouble trying to create an account. It took a trip to the social security office 70 miles away, numerous attempts to create the account online and finally after the account was created and I logged in, all I got was a blank screen!
I understand the need for security but the part I don’t get is why they have to ask for your financial information to include your credit card number, considering the number of times people’s personal information has been compromised by government agencies.
Good thing they are making it hard. My wife had not created an online account. So, somehow someone created it for her in March 2019. Later they changed the direct deposit information for 2nd Wednesdays in July to a bank in Kansas City to go on a debit card. We caught this within 2 days and SSA and the bank were able to recover the money from the card as it had not been used. We went to the local SSA office this morning. Apparently, this has happened to millions of folks’ SSA accounts starting in about January of this year. Electronic access to the account is blocked now. Any changes will require a visit to a SSA office.
Five years later! I failed to access mySocial Security a couple of weeks ago because of a small error, but was told to try 24 hours later. I tried today and on the first try (user name and password), I failed. I got the same message on the first try! I couldn’t believe it. I got to call them now.
The message said: We have suspended electronic access to your personal information. We tried three times to match the information you provided with our records, but were unable to do so. You may try to access the electronic information again after 24 hours. Please verify your personal information again before trying to use this online service. This suspension will not affect any Social Security benefits you receive. For further assistance, please contact us.
I have never, NEVER over the years had even ONE stress-free login to the SSA.gov website. I think I got in TWICE over the past 11 years. Every time prior, I was locked out, or the error message WOULD NOT tell me what was wrong and instead belched out a “Call” message instead.
Is it time for an audit?
For them to revisit their process for determining priorities?
It’s 2019, and they still don’t have a fully functional, fully ACCESSIBLE website.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the world, you can scan legal documents with your smartphone, access even low-low budget websites with user-friendly interfaces, and even upload multiple documents at once.
Something’s seriously wrong. And I’m tired of having bad things happen to me because I didn’t receive a document, or because my work hours prevented me from coming IN PERSON to drop off documents (because they apparently don’t accept even SECURE faxes).
Right now, my wages are being garnished because their backpay didn’t cover the debt I got into while receiving $0 in income while undergoing their review process, and once I got my first paycheck, I REPORTED this and spent the 2 following checks on repaying what the backpay didn’t pay.
That’s overlooking that my SSI payments were $240 short because of a clerical error that decided “You told us you received financial support” when not only was this false, but I had said NOTHING to this effect.
What can we do? Anything?
I, too, was unable to get in on my first attempt. I waited a few days and tried again and much to my surprise, I got in and was able to set up the “my Social Security” account and apply online for my retirement benefits. Looks like I still have to go to an actual office anyway because you have to submit your 2018 W-2 if you are still working, which they tell you to do in person or via mail. Dare I trust mail? I am reluctant to do that, so I guess off to an office I go. *sigh*
Strange thing happened, though, after my first failed attempt. I received a message on my cell that my social security number had been suspended because of some suspicious activity. This message came in about an hour after I had failed the first failed attempt to sign up.
The thing is, though, that this is a scam. I checked online and found out that the social security administration does not suspend your social security number, ever. I find it very disturbing that this came in on my cell and so soon after my attempt. How did anyone even know that? I didn’t apply via my cell. How do they know my phone number? Leaves a very uneasy feeling.
I did not call that number back and if anyone here gets such a message, please ignore it. Definitely a scam.
Evidently it has not gotten any better in the last 5 years. It is July 2019 and we’ve been trying to register my wife for the last several days and keep getting locked out. We’ve even looked up the info for these obscure questions and thought we had everything correct, to the best of our knowledge. We still fail every time. The other problem is, that out of all of the questions asked, you don’t know how many or which ones you got wrong. It is very frustrating, to say the least. I created my account several years ago and I don’t remember going through this and had no issues at all.
Continuing the failure train, I too keep failing the login questions. My wife had no troubles though. How has this been going on for so long with no fix?
Could not agree more. At least you were able to get to the website. Everytime I try I get the error that says, this page cannot be displayed.
My son is needing to get a replacement SS card, and after a second attempt, still is being locked out. I was looking over his shoulder per his request to “help” him answer his security questions. Only ONE actually applied to him … and yet, he was locked out … a second time. He is young, he only has 2 accounts on his credit bureau reports, and one is paid off. That’s it. And these “security” questions are coming up with crazy stuff. NONE of it applies to him. (The first time he answered them, NONE applied.) Where are they getting this stuff and when he answers correctly, why won’t it let him in?? Very frustrating. We pulled each one of my son’s bureau reports to make sure that we weren’t missing anything such as a fraudulent account, but only the 2 accounts.
Thank you for writing this article. At least we know that it isn’t just us …
Thank you for this insightful article! I have been dealing with the Social Security Administration for about 4 months now and I too have had numerous problems with their online programs. I am assuming your article refers directly to setting up a “My Social Security” online account, which is how you access your personal SSA information. Although, I must admit, I am only assuming that is correct since after 4 months, I still have NOT been able to register my own social security account. Just as you experienced, apparently I was unable to correctly answer one or more of their extremely bizarre questions. Which is even stranger to me, since each of the questions that were asked, I knew the correct answer for! I knew the model number and year of the car I owned in grad school, as well as every other question asked. However, when I completed the Nazi pop quiz, the SSA locked me out of the system and would not allow me to try again.
Upon calling and properly identifying myself, I was told that each response had to be exact down to the very key stroke, even if there was a wrong key stroke! Let me say that again. If they have information that is typed in incorrectly, I have to type it in incorrectly as well or I will get the answer wrong! As an example, if the name of a street I lived on when I was 19 years old is misspelled, even by 1 letter, I have to match the misspelling or the entire exercise is wrong. That is insanity. Security is one thing. But making online security so difficult that the actual subject cannot reasonably access their own personal information is just wrong. I personally believe our government does this on purpose in the hope that many people will just simply “give up” and not question what they are doing! In this way they can operate in complete secrecy and nobody can witness their blunders and massive mistakes. Again, I appreciate you writing this article. It was a relief to see so many others having the same frustrating experience as I have. Anyways, I suppose none of this will be an issue soon if Social Security runs out of money and shuts down. Problem solved.
The same thing literally just happened to me. None of the questions or answers were valid. After talking to the woman on the phone, she was able to unlock my account easily, and it was just like you said. If it’s so easy to validate who I am over the phone, then why is it so difficult to do over a website? Maybe the Social Security office should stop using Equifax to verify that people are who they say they are and instead just modernize their website to allow things like identification with pictures of photo IDs. The same way that Paypal or banks can.
Social Security, you’re doing it wrong!
I am so glad I found this article. I was trying to secure a replacement SS card. I was asked about former addresses. None of those listed were familiar although I did spend two months rooming with a friend, but I can’t remember the street name. I was given a list of phone numbers, all reminiscent of a town I spent possibly one year living in. Any chance I’m going to get that right? Not really. I was then told I had a credit card with one of the following … Unfortunately, if I ever opened an account with any of those listed I never used it. Ugh! I have no chance of getting on this site now or at any time in the near future. At least I know I’m not the only one!
Creating a “my Social Security” account is pretty much impossible. The security questions are a joke. Many questions do not seem to apply to me at all, but “none of the above” fails for me. The system seems designed more to keep people out than to be a convenience for the rightful applicant. Whatever the 3rd party entity that the govt. hired to generate security questions, it fails miserably at generating intelligent, reasonable questions that only the rightful applicant would know, without having to dig deep into long-ago closed (and forgotten) credit card accounts, trick questions, financial institutions that change names over the years, etc. While I’m confident that the SSA would never admit it, if the statistics were revealed on how many people legitimately attempting to create the account failed, the number would be staggering. I’m sure far, far more fail than gain legitimate access. As with many, many others, the online system was a time-wasting complete fail for me. I will be standing in line at the local SSA building to get a new SS card and statement, things that should be readily available online if there were only an intelligent, reasonable verification system in place. I guess that’s asking too much from our govt.
I have tried dozens of times with no luck.
Tried again today/still no luck/locked out again. Guess I’ll have to go in person to get the pin. I am over 60 and have no idea what kinda credit stuff I had 40 years ago. Thanks for the article; don’t feel as bad knowing I am not alone in this.
I am an American-born citizen of the USA turning 70 and I cannot get through the process either because the website appears to be only good for Americans who live in the USA. I live now in the Philippines because that is where I can have the best situation for my retirement years since I’m living on under a thousand dollars a month. The website does not give an option I can find to tell them I live in the Philippines. They already know I live in the Philippines as I get a letter each year that I send back to them (snail mail) to let them know that nothing has changed in my life, but the website demands an address within the United States and since I have not lived in the United States for years but have been living here in the Philippines, I have no USA address to give them. I get my SSA money via direct deposit into a bank I set up many years ago, that bank having been bought up by another bank so even my bank which sends me the ATM debit card, which the website refuses to verify also, has never met me in person but just owns my account now. I have a FB page which has been active for years, I have my own website which is full of information and pictures of me, I bank online, and if anyone should be easy to verify, it should be me. I have a cellphone number which I gave them, but because I could not give them a USA city and address, I’m left out in the cold. I don’t have the option to just visit my SSA local office living overseas, and it’s not easy for me to call the USA on a cell phone from the Philippines. You would think they would have a FREE 800 number for me to call but you can’t call 800 numbers from a cell phone in the Philippines for the most part — even my ATM card that has to be activated via phone doesn’t work because the Philippines is so corrupt they don’t trust me when I call the 800 number and the bank always has to activate the card for me after I send them an email telling them the 800 number doesn’t work for me. All I know is despite my activity on the web, which is easily verifiable, the system won’t allow me to get a “my Social Security” account now. Funny thing is that I had such an account before and it was functional but then I guess they updated that website and now I don’t seem to exist anymore. The website definitely needs to be tweaked but when you are the government (total monopoly) and you think you have it right already, hey what can I say?
Today I attempted to help my brother sign up online for social security benefits. The answers were all “none of the above” and we got locked out. I spent my working life as a network admin, I am very comfortable online, on a computer … Brother will be getting a credit report and calling social security on Monday.
Oh My Gosh!!! I too have tried to ‘create’ a SS account through their insane website!!!! I started creating the ‘new’ account – had to leave (didn’t finish) – received a ‘reentry’ number – took screen shots of the number. Went back into the SSA site – keyed in the ‘re-entry’ number – it stated ‘we don’t show any such number.’ Called SSA – left my phone number, was called back, the SSA rep said – ‘I’ve never had anyone have this problem before.’ I knew then I was in trouble. We tried so many times to use the ‘re-entry’ number – their system locked me out. His suggestion – try again the next day and do a ‘create a new account.’ So I’ve tried doing that now for a third or fourth time. Each time I am asked about mortgage loans, student loans, old address – SSA ‘SUSPENDED’ MY ELECTRONIC ACCESS to ‘your’ personal info.
And the government wonders why the public is so very tired of them!! So now I’ll have to go in person to see a ‘disgruntled’ SSA/government employee and try to set up a SS account. I’m taking a backpack full of everything I can think of they may want or request to see – to verify who I am. Wish me luck.
2019 and it continues!!! I got a number 2 years ago from the office to bypass questions that were completely wrong also. Bingo! I’m in!
Now I need to know why I got money I was not expecting so I try to log in to my account.
NO! I must enter a code sent to my email address to prove something :-/
I get the code — like You I am NOT a newbie — on the ‘web’ since 1995! I copy and paste code for accuracy.
NOPE! Wrong code!! I double-check … the box to enter the code on the site will only accept a code 1 digit shorter than the code they sent!!!
TRUE STORY! So I see it starts with zero … maybe they don’t want the zero … though no place do they tell me that. NOPE! Still have the wrong code!!
Nowhere in the universe could anyone be as inept as the writers of this site appear to be!
You are FAR too polite! 🙂
Last time I called the phone number — waited nearly THREE hours on hold — her answer was “I can’t answer that, you will have to go into local office and ask.” BUT the paper to which I was calling in reference said to call if I had questions!!
IT DOES NOT END!!!
People who answer may be polite enough but it is all part of a faulty machine where the hamster cannot get off 🙁
So even IF You get an account … it does NOT stop there!
I have a Xerox copy of my SS Card. My name has an accent at the end, as indicated on my SS Card.
Tried many different ways to type and re-type my name in frustration trying to open an account. Really?!? Now I’m locked out. Gonna have to wait a couple hours for a call back from the busy agency. All this to get a replacement card online. Forget it. I will ask for an application and try US Post.
It is concerning to me that your article was written in 2014 and here I am in 2019 trying to sign on to the SSA website at the suggestion of my financial advisor as I approach retirement, and I have the same problem. I do not recognize the various mortgage companies I may have taken a loan out from in 2013 — how could I? Mortgage companies change their names every couple of months! They wanted to know which bank I have a car lease with. I do not have a car lease but if I say this, I cannot answer the next question which wants to know the cost of my car lease and only gives monetary choices. Unfortunately, I think all I have accomplished is losing my ability to receive a hard copy of my yearly SS letter as I had to agree not to get a paper copy when I tried to create an online account.
“We have suspended electronic access to your personal information. We tried to match the information you provided with our records, but were unable to do so. You may try to access the electronic information again after 24 hours. Please verify your personal information again before trying to use this online service. This suspension will not affect any Social Security benefits you receive. For further assistance, please contact us.”
Why does this keep happening? You tout this online service as the fastest way to apply but you make it impossible to accomplish.
*Sigh* October 30th, 2019, and things have not changed one bit. Tried to log in with my saved credentials — SSA says the account does not exist. Tried to create an account — SSA says that account already exists. Ended up getting locked out :-/ REALLY, SSA? REALLY????
This is a perfect article! I have been doubting my intelligence, I’ve had my credit report printed to ensure getting it right. But I failed for the 4th time, with verified, correct answers. I’m feeling quite hopeless at this point! I too spoke with a lovely woman at the social security 800 # … she was very helpful and made me feel hopeful.
But 4 times in, with my credit report in my lap and still SUSPENDED(!) leads me to believe there is something wrong with my iPad or the test is designed to fail!
I just want to cry. I will turn 62 in 2020 and was excited to receive some of my money I’ve been saving (paying) for all these years. But I clearly know nothing about myself, the 800 # discourages going to your local office, and actually advised me to print my credit report. Which I did!!!!! And still failed! ???????????????? This test is flawed or filled with trick questions — Home Depot is not listed on your credit report as Home Depot! You have to study the card to see who the bank is that issued the card and hope they haven’t sold, and that Home Depot is now another mega bank! UGH! I really thought this was going to be easy … but so far, I cannot even establish “my social security” … account!
I am fully aware of the threat of identity theft, but saddened that I cannot even verify my own identity with 2 credit bureaus in front of me!
How have 50 million other people successfully completed this process? I so hope I receive that call in 7 business days to schedule my phone interview to file for the benefits that have been in my SSA for 45 years!!!!!
Feeling hopeful the government will not fail me …
At first I was laughing at the website only being available during certain hours — if only that were the biggest problem. I tried to sign up and got a bunch of questions, and I’m pretty sure I answered them correctly. I even dug up an old phone number I haven’t used in 17 years. Still got the 24-hour lockout message.
I think we should all email (or call or whatever) and complain — maybe they might get the message? Nah, probably not … https://www.ssa.gov/agency/contact/
I just had the same experience but I did not get past the first page!
They did not like my address and phone number apparently.
The nearest social security office is 250 miles away …
I have a premium DS Logon. The DoD Self-service Logon or DSL is a secure, self-service logon ID created by the Defense Manpower Data Center as an enterprise identity credential that allows individuals affiliated with the Department of Defense (DoD) or the Department of Veterans Affairs to access to several websites using a single username and password. Using that, I clicked on My Social Security from a DoD website and failed to be able to register 3 times!!! Why would I want to go sit in a line that TAKES 2-4 HOURS JUST TO GET A CODE TO LOGON AT HOME? Ridiculous.
I certainly feel your pain at this very moment. I have been trying without success to access the mySocialSecurity login account. I haven’t accessed it in a while, so now my password does not work. Clicked forgot password which asked if me was me. Finally, I had to answer a few security questions which I gave years ago … and have forgotten.
After 3 failed attempts with wrong answers to my security questions, I got locked out for 24 hrs. Went another round of wrong security answers for 24 hrs. Lockout again. This is crazy. The personal information asked for and given, to get my user credentials again, should have been enough to let me access my account; and more than enough for the security questions that were answered and forgotten years ago. One thought though, on the security answered questions that keep blocking us out: Could it be a spelling error in the original submitted answer for a particular security question answered? And the security answers just don’t match because of spelling errors? I wonder, if that might be the problem.
Well, I am in the same boat. And I create such password-protected sites for businesses. ROFL. I did have an account. The log-in to that one, stored in my digital vault, was no longer recognized. It was not a password/user ID issue. The message said that the account no longer existed. Huh?
I had to create a new account. I was actually able to get through the site creation and got an email code sent to me, entered it, was successful, and then, the last page said that access was not possible at this time and to call. It’s Saturday, my day off, course. I will be back at work when they are available to call. It’s a 45-minute drive to the office here. What gives with this? Why don’t they just set this up with an authenticator? I like security but, after seeing the experience of everyone else here, this is ridiculous — and costing the government and taxpayers time, which is money. Deficit anybody?
I wholeheartedly agree with you regarding Social Security virtually locking everyone out of the ability to access their account online. I have been trying for the past two weeks to get that elusive security code text on my phone so that I can login. Even after two weeks I have NEVER received any text of any type from Social Security. Without the code, you cannot login. I have more important things to do with my time than wait in a Social Security office just to be told to ‘go online’ even after explaining that the code they claim to be texting is not being sent. The final statement I heard from the person I was dealing with was, “It’s not my problem. You need to call the 800 number and your cell carrier.” Calling the ‘800 number’ has resulted in nothing but disconnects after sometimes hours of waiting on hold.
Well, it’s now December 22, 2019 and I can’t create an account either! The first page refuses to recognize me. I’ve now been locked out for the third 24-hour period … I very much enjoyed reading so many of these comments but it did strike me that although our health care system desperately needs revamping, we should think twice before supporting a single payer system — if social security is this bad, God help us when we need to log on for a doctor!!
I have had the same experience as the others (two failed attempts, even with two credit reports in front of me the second time). Went to the office, was told I’d get an access code in the mail — it’s been over two weeks, and nothing. My whole reason for doing this was to enroll in Medicare online. I started on this with plenty of time to spare, and now I’m bumping against deadlines to get the supplemental insurance, etc. going. Called today to see if I could enroll in Medicare at the office without an SS account. Sure — in the middle of February, past my 65th birthday. They might have been able to work me in tomorrow, except I don’t have a smart phone or tablet to receive the access code on. To do it without that, you have to work with the *one* person in the office who is able to do it for you (in a city of 300,000+ people, not counting the suburbs). Now they’re watching to see if anyone cancels their appointment with him so I can get in. To reiterate: you cannot simply walk into an SS office and enroll in Medicare manually, unless you want to wait several months — because even they must use the electronic system. If I’d had any idea it would be like this, I’d have started last summer, but they said it was easy …
Has anyone had this problem? I created an SSA account years ago with no problem, but when I get to the page where I ask to be texted a code that will allow me access to my account, the text never arrives. The page says to wait up to 2 minutes. I’ve waited for 10 minutes with no reply. I’ve tried 3 times in 2 days. And yes, both the wi-fi and cell tower signals on my phone are excellent.
Joining the club. Just tried to register my father, who is disabled, on the website. None of the questions matched. So said none of the above for each of them. Was locked out. So said, maybe someone got his information so let me try my info. Again none of the info matched and was locked out again. So I called SSA. Very nice, but said they couldn’t help me. That information comes from Equifax. They gave me their number and I called. Got someone who I’m not sure was in the States, however they kept trying to sell me an account. I was like your information is inaccurate, and you want me to pay to check my credit? He then made it sound like he was going to give me a one-time free one and when I got to the end, he asked for my credit card again. I was frustrated. While going thru this I was on the Equifax website and a $4.95 30-day thing popped up. Said can you honor this? He said no. I blew up at him and he didn’t know what to do. Funny thing. When he was asking me the verification questions none matched but one. My last job. Though that question never comes up. Only questions about loans I don’t have and mortgages I never had, and middle names that aren’t close to mine, and streets I never lived on.
Nothing has changed. Have tried 4x in recent months, and the questions are always 100% not related to me. Answer “none of the above” and get locked out. After a long wait to talk to somebody, the SSA person says they get their questions and data automatically generated by Equifax. Funny thing: I try to get a credit report from Equifax and they ask me verification questions. None are related to me. I answer “None of the above” and get locked out.
For all we are blaming SSA, I think the problem is their contract with Equifax. They must get dozens or hundreds of complaints daily, but incompetence and not caring means that the problems persist.
How do you put pressure on a government contractor who is failing to do their job ?
What did you show or tell them to bypass and get a code?
I am in my 2 year battle to prove I am me.
I just had the exact same problem trying to get into my husband’s social security account to get his 1099. I felt like I was banging my head against a wall. It gave me a temporary password with a plus sign in the middle. ??????
Awesome article!!! I am suffering the same pain, right now, as I just had to have it unlocked and yes, I failed the first attempt of my next set of three attempts before I’m locked out for 30 days. The SSA Help Desk rep was very nice and directed me to refer to my credit reports. You know, the Free Annual Credit Reports that use similar security questions about your identity that are taken from your credit report and guess what? I’ve been getting them yearly for years now and never failed to get access. Plus, I got access to them after my call to Social Security this morning but failed to get access to my Social Security. Time to go to the Social Security office for the PIN as I’m apparently not going to get this right.
Been on disability/social security for 12 years. Never had a problem until the turn of 2020. NOW, it tells me it cannot verify my account, it won’t reset my password, it won’t send me a security code and I cannot open a new account and the local admin office says I have no account!!!
After 2 days of being locked out of what at first glance appeared to be a very convenient and relatively user friendly account sign up process, I searched online a bit and found your article. You summed up the situation perfectly: they should instruct everyone that the process should start with an in person visit followed by online monitoring of the account to follow. Well done.
Glad, and sad, that I found this explanatory article and all the comments because six years down the road NOTHING has changed. I made my first foray into setting up an account a couple of days ago and found everything described here: worrisome questions that don’t apply to me, being locked out, friendly but ultimately unhelpful phone calls, needing a trip to the SS office, a gnawing feeling about identity theft, etc. I’m relieved to know that I am not the problem and furious to know that I am not the problem.
Well, that page seems to be complete garbage then. I tried to register but it asks me about my mortgage and car loan. I don’t have one! Also, it asked me about my full middle name, giving me options that are surely not my name. They don’t even start with my middle initial it asked me for literally one page earlier!
Funny thing is that those loan dates it asked for were before I was issued my SSN. That’s just a mess.
I have been trying to register for two months. My first name is two words. The agency had no problem giving me an SSN with that name — but I can’t even get past the first page of the registration to create an account. It won’t recognize a first name with two words. And it won’t recognize the second name as a middle initial. When I call the agency help line, I get people who tell me they don’t know how to fix it and I should go to an office. I went to an office. I was told to call the help line. I’m giving up — and calling my senator. Maybe he can get them to give me an account. Otherwise, I’m going to see whether I can charge them for the time it takes me, sitting around their office, to get information when I need it. I bill at $750 an hour.
I messed up my password on my Social Security. They sent me via US Post a reset code, and I’ve tried to enter it where the password is — no go but I’m scared it will lock me out after 3x again. What/how do I?? I have been on hold for TWO HOURS AND 39 MINUTES. They sent me the reset code that took 12 days to arrive … It only instructs me: go to http://www.socialsecurity.gov/myaccount and ENTER THE RESET CODE BELOW. WHERE????
It happened to me, too. OK, I admit it, organization is not one of my strengths. When I set up my “My Social Security” account, I wrote both the user name and password on a scrap of paper. Oops!!! I now have no idea of either. I’ve been trying to recover both for three years now with the help of my brother who is a retired IRS agent (He actually helped design the security system we’re fighting with). No luck. At one point I actually managed to get to where they asked me some security questions: “What was your mother’s maiden name?” They said my answer was incorrect. “What was the make and model of your first car?” Incorrect again. Then, as usual, the screen disappeared and was replaced by a warning about identity theft. I’ve given up.
Yep, I am trying to help my mom update her benefits now that my dad has passed. We assumed (incorrectly) that she had not previously signed up for My Social Security. After learning that she already had an account, we had to go through the “forgot username.” No problem. But when it came to the forgotten password, big problem. We couldn’t get past the five questions (“three questions, sire!”). So we tried the “don’t know the answers to the questions” path to have a temporary password mailed to us. No luck. The site says that the address we entered would not change any SSA information on file and infers that the phone number we entered is the one piece of information they would need to verify our identity. But alas, the verification failed. My mom has only had two phone numbers in the last 20 years, a cell and landline. Neither worked. I can only assume that the address is also being used as a verification, but since she has recently moved we don’t want the temporary password mailed to her previous house. And to make matters worse, we can’t go to the local office because of this stinking virus.
Trying to obtain a replacement S.S. card as my work has been affected by covid 19, and I will need one to get hired by anyone. With the physical offices closed, this is my only option. I have been locked out twice. It is extremely frustrating to know even if I find a new job, I may be denied until I am able to go to a physical S.S. office when they open.
During the pandemic we’re needing a social security card that got wet in a lake while my son was swimming. He is signing up for UI and needs that card to prove it’s him, but the questions they ask are not his questions. He has never had a line of credit. He is 18 but questions ask about a line of credit from 2015—he was in the 8th grade. So here we are unable to get unemployment because he doesn’t have a social security card to prove it’s him but can’t get it online because the questions are wrong and can’t get it at the office because we are in a pandemic and every government entity is closed.
My husband is trying to sign up for his benefits as he is turning 65 and is retired!! Did not complete application in one sitting so in trying to go back in and use same password and user ID he wrote down, it says it is wrong! Of course tried 3 times for 3 days, getting kicked out for 24 hours each time!! Now what? Due to COVID-19 it’s not open! Hours and hours of trying to call, what a laugh!! He would sure like to start collecting his rightful benefits and so would I!!
Just trying to replace my Social Security Card … had to answer security questions, one of which was … what hospital were you born in? … I was born at home and never would have chosen that security question. Of course we went the requisite 5 times around and then we were done. Will resort to a phone call.
Same experience: security questions are so old and obscure, nobody can remember that far back. I even had some credit reports to look at for the information, but they didn’t even have it! Having worked in designing systems to increase efficiency I know exactly why it’s failing. Efficiency costs jobs. People aren’t suicidal, so they won’t allow technology to steal jobs. All current growth in this country is fueled by inefficiency. The growth is in overhead. Project management, dev ops, over-specialization, change for its own sake. Depressing.
Well said! My husband and I both have encountered the same problem more than once. In fact, I have now lost track of how many times I have tried, including after scouring my credit report as if I was cramming for an exam — to no avail.
Excellent article. I just had an identical experience to yours. I’ve been trying to set my mother up on the site and have thus far failed twice. I have a B.S. degree, a lot of technical experience, a ton of financial experience, and vast experience with using financial websites. We got the same impossible-to-answer questions (or slight variations thereof) on two successive days. I even tried varying the answer to the one question that I thought we were most likely getting wrong. No joy. I’ll try calling tomorrow. I hope I can get something more than merely another attempt to get through the security wall.
Mr. Heaton: Thank you SO much for your post. You and the comments inspired the following Scientific Report.
Introduction: I only tried once to create an account. I was promptly locked out for answering all “security questions” correctly with “none of the above.” You call that “security?” Asking non-applicable questions? All the answers are the same?? What a joke!! Instantly, I smelled a rat.
Method: Google brought me here. I just spent an hour collecting data, scrolling through and reading randomly selected comments posted over … get this … the PAST SIX YEARS! Nothing has changed. Zero. Zilch. Nada.
Results: If Equifax is creating these “security questions,” they are clearly corrupting the process. I am incredulous and beside myself with rage and hopelessness. I’m convinced I shouldn’t even try again. Not even a second time. Like, what’s the point?
Conclusion:
Option #1: Go to SSA office, but that’s ruled out due to The Pandemic. If only there were an online option! (Kill me now.)
Option #2: Out of curiosity, I may try again to create an account — if I can summon the courage, strength, and emotional stamina to go down that rabbit hole.
Option #3: One commenter suggested we put Equifax out of business by all of us locking down our accounts. I may try that if I have anything left to give. And if I can get past their bogus “security questions.” Yikes!
Option #4: For now, putting my head in the sand feels like the best option.
Ideas for Future Research: Option #5: Someone else suggested contacting AARP to get on this.
Option #6: Invite both Christopher Titus and Lewis Black to try to create their own accounts, inspiring them to write bits, which they will put in their next shows, so we can experience a therapeutic emotional catharsis.
Option #6 gets my vote!
Detest Paperwork!
When I wrote this 6 years ago I genuinely had no idea. Thank you for taking the time to craft such a fulsome and entertaining response. Humor seems the only recourse we have … I wish you all the best and if you have connections on any of the fronts you suggest, more power to you.
Stay safe.
—James
The agency responsible for this crap is Equifax. I could log in and get reports on the other two agencies with relevant questions but the Equifax website presented exactly the same completely irrelevant questions as the SSA website and didn’t let me get my report and login. In what world do private companies collect these data, limit it from the people they collected it from, and are the ones providing (wrong) authentication information to the official authorities. Chelem.
Well, that’s a relief! It’s not a me/us problem, after all!! It’s the SSA!
We’ve had the same experience with trying to create an account for my wife – none of the questions that are displayed are relevant to our/her credit history, so we we’ve been selecting NONE OF THE ABOVE. Wrong answer …
Extremely frustrating … but on the positive side of things, we’ve discovered that our local SSA Help Line answers calls in a timely (couple of minutes up here in NH) manner, while we’ve waited on hold for 15+ minutes using the national number (and never got past the music on hold phase).
I test software for a living and I can tell you that if I ever let an application like this make its way into production, I’d be canned (and deservedly so) in a heartbeat.
Apparently nothing has changed. I just got locked out for the 8th time. Once again, I will call the SSA number and give them my SSN, date of birth, and mother’s maiden name. The cycle continues. Would like to just stop in their office, but with COVID no such opportunity at present.
Honestly, this is the worst system I’ve ever seen. Then again, it’s the government, so I really shouldn’t be surprised.
I keep trying to make an account to get a replacement card, but the questions … I’ve never had a car/home/student loan, and none of the bank card names match (nor the retail ones—I do have a retail card, but they didn’t list the correct store). None of the phone numbers/previous addresses match. I haven’t moved.
I’m in my 20s and just need a replacement card. This is crazy it’s been going on this long. I need to find work (yes even in the pandemic), and I can’t get in to get my card! I hate calling people so much, and I’m terrified they’ll just ask the same questions over the phone that aren’t working!
It is now July 13, 2020 and I have been locked out 6 times. Called them. Got copies of my credit reports, fixed all the errors. None pertained to the questions asked. Answered all the questions correctly. Locked out.
They are a complete joke. I think a letter to my Congresswoman is in order.
OMG! Fast forward to July 2020, in the middle of the pandemic, and this is still relevant. I was trying to set up an account and I “failed” the questions (none of the information they pulled up was appropriate for me). I called. I waited 18 min once for them to disconnect. I called the Spanish line and the English line (wait in the Spanish speaking line for 58 min, wait in the English speaking line for 35 min). The person I talked to unlocked my account. I tried to open the account and answer my questions with her on the phone and it didn’t work again so the account is locked and she said she could not unlock it for me. I am supposed to wait for 24 hours. She told me to check my credit score with one of the companies (So now I´m freaking out! Did someone steal my identity? Is that what she is implying?). Why do they have to do it so complicated? I just want a benefit statement for my financial advisor. I´ll try again tomorrow. Hopefully I´ll be allowed to use the call a friend card or perhaps the 50% one.
As previously stated the my ssa.gov website leaves much to be desired. As I was trying to set up my account for the 1st time, it locks me out? WHY??? Oh I see, try again in 24 hours … SSA should feel ashamed for this, that there is no direct phone number to verify oneself and open his or her account!
I have tried I think 5 times at least and cannot get into my account. I set it up in 2017. I am 63 years old and so frustrated. I called SS and got cut off after 25 minutes probably because it was past their shorter hours that they are using due to COVID-19 since March and you can visit the SS Office for now.
Thanks for the blog as it made me feel justified in my frustration.
Tricia
Every question they asked had nothing to do with me or my history. I answered None of the Above to each, and was locked out. Since Equifax was supposedly the source of the information, I set up an Equifax account and got direct access to my credit report. Nothing on that credit report matched any of the questions they asked.
I had a security freeze on my account so I lifted it for a day and tried again, with access to my Equifax data at the ready. They again asked me questions about a bank card with an opening date that did not appear on my Equifax credit report, a student loan, which I have never had one of in my entire life, the payment amount on the “above referenced account,” even though there were two (non-existent) accounts listed “above” that question, the TERMS of the “above-referenced” account, and then a former phone number, none of which I could recall, none of which was anywhere I had ever lived or worked, and one of which was in the general vicinity of the commuter college I attended. It seems possible that I put a number for the school down decades ago on some form, but it was certainly not “your current or previous telephone number.”
Now, due to COVID, SSA offices are CLOSED for direct visits. I’m *hoping* that I can call a local office to get one of the PIN numbers that this article describes as being the key to getting past this otherwise-impossible barrier. I need to register for Medicare by the end of September, so this is a matter of some urgency.
So … turned 70 in July and figured it was time to apply for my SS benefits. I had no idea this would be such a Sh** Show! My experience is precisely that of the dozens of contributions above (since 2014!!!).
Guess I will go to a SS office, but not even sure they are taking folks for appointments during Covid. Anyone who seriously thinks the govt. should be in charge of more stuff needs to have their head examined!
I signed up online for Medicare alone earlier this year and fortunately did not need a SS account for that transaction. At the time I did try to set one up and got those strange questions for a car loan I never had, a credit card I never had and phone numbers that don’t look familiar. Of course I was locked out of creating the account but didn’t follow up. Now that I am applying for retirement and actually need it I’m still locked out. The local SS office will help me apply but appointments are 6 weeks out. Ridiculous that this is a long term problem especially now that doing business online is essential.
My wife just got locked out. She already had an account. We couldn’t’ remember the password or the logon, but it wouldn’t let us open a new account, because she already has one. So the screen has an icon that says, “Forgot your sign on name?”. Why, yes, we did, how helpful. We push the button. It wants her sign on name. We think, this can’t be right. We must have missed a button somewhere. Three times trying gets us to the same question. So, in order to be given her forgotten sign on name, she must first enter her forgotten sign on name. And, they wonder why there are a hundred people in their lobby wanting to talk to a person every day.
Amen! A few months ago, before I was about to turn 65, I tried to set up my My Social Security account and got locked out twice (or maybe 3 times, if today was among the count). It is like a quiz show, but not a good one. My first 2 tries I had to answer multiple choice questions involving: 1, did I ever have any of these multitudinous phone numbers in my life; and 2, do I remember ever having credit accounts from any of these multitudinous banks. First, once I’m done with a phone number, I’m done with that phone number. Second, the list of banks gives you just the banks, not the name of the credit card I had with them. I think of names like Credit One, Genesis, etc., not the name of whatever bank might have been associated with it. I fear I will never get through this maze, and I have already turned 65. Covid does not help, since I would gladly visit an actual SSA office if I could.
Yeah, this is one of the most horribly “sensitive” sites if one makes a mistake logging in. I swear I’ve gone through this several times, it not liking my credentials, having to request a reset code by mail, getting the reset code, resetting my password, recording my new password, only to have to repeat the exact same fucking process a year or so later when I attempt to log on with the rest password I duly recorded.
There comes a point when security is so tight it keeps the legitimate user out but not a savvy hacker. SSA is one of them. The sad thing is it wasn’t always this way. I never, ever had a problem until maybe 4 or 5 years ago. They ramped up security protocols to a ridiculous level.
This post started in 2014 and here we are today in 2020 with the ”My Social Social Security” website being even WORSE than it was then. I have given up on the site, having been through the process of having to go to my local (40 mile drive) SS office to grant me access to my account 4 times in the last 2 years. I am disabled in a wheelchair and hearing impaired so I am very dependent on the blessing in today’s age to be able to access the world at my fingertips via the internet. Nothing involving the SSA is easy. I have lived in the same place my whole life, never had an auto loan or mortgage but every time I got questions from the site suggesting I did. ”None of the above” I say to all, but they disagree and block me. Dear SSA, something that you say can be done ”with ease” is actually indeed difficult for us all. The site is not worth anyone’s trouble. If you do get on, log on at least once a month using the same device and internet IP address. You’ll be less likely…but NOT guaranteed to avoid the stupid ”security question” verification. Thank you James for giving us all a place to vent…misery does love company. Wishing everyone health and safety!
I am in 100% agreement with this blog. The questions my wife was asked are absurd. How the hell can I remember which among six or so credit cards was first opened 18 years ago. I also believe that their information is incorrect regarding a mortgage we paid off two years ago. One of the listed choices used to hold the mortgage, but it was refinanced over 10 years ago. The holder at the time it was paid off was not listed. Other questions looked like they were tricks, to see if we would bite on a false statement (such as credit companies with which we’ve never done business). What a flippin’ mess!
I tried several times to get an account, locked out. Called SS, they unlocked it, tried again, locked out again. I actually used only info from my Experian Credit report. I am livid. We have credit with multiple sources dating back to the 80s and they are asking obscure questions but I was confident I had the right answers. This is insane.
I have the same issue. It’s about the question and answer syndrome. SS is closed because of Covid in my area, so I called the 800 number and they couldn’t tell me or maybe wouldn’t tell me about which ? I got wrong. I’ m 78 so what’s up with that? I need to get a SS awards letter from them to refinance my house after my spouse passed 2 mo. ago. No love for us elderly!!
It is 2020 and this is still an issue. Offices are closed due to the pandemic and I am needing to replace my SS card. Security questions are asking me who I opened an auto loan with in 2015 — I was 13 then.
Hey, there may be light at the end of the tunnel! I just tried creating an account again and there is a different path available using a driver’s license or state ID. I was interrupted and didn’t finish, and so am locked out but only for 24 hours.
I was informed by my HR that I needed to sign up with SSA today, 11-30-2020, because the deadline is coming up on 12-07-2020. So I proceeded to sign up, filled in the required information and when I got to the page where you can save and return to finish later, I did that and logged out. I had to do that because I needed to get back to work. So I tried logging in again after work to finish up; I even have the Re-entry Number, but I get to the Enter Activation Code and tried the Re-entry Number but that didn’t work. I checked my emails, nothing from SSA. Found a text message from SSA that had the activation code which was about 4 hours ago and tried that. Still failed. Now the website page says to contact them by phone or drop by the nearest office. I’ve been working as a software developer since ’93 and the SSA website is sorely lacking in user-friendliness.
Dec 2020 … got locked out during registration, called SS office, they unlocked it … still am unsuccessful at completing the registration … since COVID, can’t get into the SS office!! Geeeezzz
So, did you ever get any satisfaction from the SSA, and if so what did it take? I.E., who did you have to complain to? Thanks for your feedback.
Christopher,
Thank you for asking. In the end I broke down and went in person back in August 2019. I got a code and was able to access to my account on line. Just to check, I visited to the website today and was able to log in! The site was useful and easy to use. Much improved actually. My personal saga seems to have ended…
My wife unbeknownst to me requested an activation code that had to be mailed to her so she could sign up for SS. When I tried to log into my account I was told I need an activation code so I requested one but it said I have already done so and it will arrive in the mail. I never remembered requesting one. A week later it came addressed to me. I used it and logged on. Done. That was the code my wife requested but again it came in my name and it worked for opening my version of my SS. Every time she entered her username and password and pressed enter her username would change to mine and she couldn’t get on. After waiting nearly 2 hours on hold with phone support we couldn’t get logged on two of our computers and were about to give up when we tried on my cell phone. That worked and good night.
I successfully created an account in 2016. I then got locked out soon after that and have been locked out for 4 years. Every time I tried, I’d have to do the “Forgot Password” method because my password wouldn’t work. I managed to fail the security questions every time despite there being no other answers to those questions. They’re supposed to send a letter with a temporary password and they’ve never sent one in 4 years. I need a new SS card.
I guess I can never work again.
I may have to wait for COVID to be a memory before I can actually talk to someone in person in a visit to a brick and mortar SSI office, but I will make the attempt to get an access code.
Both my wife and I have been unable to open our online accounts. I am asked questions about phone numbers and other things from 20+ years ago. I have no idea. I used to have a phone number for a fax in my home office years ago and I didn’t know it then as it was on my company business card. Give me a break!
So here I am 5 years after this article was written. About to be homeless and/or blow my brains out. Dealing with SSA is *almost* as bad as dealing with IRS, and I’m convinced it’s intentional.
Husband diagnosed with brain tumor 2/2/20, setting up his account was easy, approval for disability was easy except for 5 month wait. He received one payment 10 days before his death.
I go online to set up an account for me, locked out twice. I was aware you can’t apply for widow’s benefits online but wanted an account to track claim once I filed. Keep in mind two weeks prior I easily obtained a new SS card via mail with name change and same address for 12 years. Called and waited waited waited, finally reached human who could not verify my identity by address. I later learned this was because I didn’t say the word STREET. Scrambled around to find old addresses not knowing STREET was the secret word. Wonderfully nice woman on next call kindly unblocked me. Locked out again.
Enough of that so I move on to applying for benefits by phone. Got a phone appointment for 4 months down the road but was assured back pay would be locked in (protected filing they call it). I’m very thorough with documentation so researched and gathered more than what they needed and mailed it to local office one week prior to phone appointment. Phone appointment seemed to go well until I received summary which had mistakes, called local office and was told “you should be fine.” Two weeks later received letter dated week prior stating they never received documents. WHAT!?! I was given one week, including new year’s and weekend, to contact them or my claim would be denied.
As I sit here now, stomach churning while reading these comments, I want to feel comforted that it’s not just me but I don’t. I’m sickened and enraged that we the people are forced to pay into a system that thinks so little of us.
Now, excuse me, I have an important phone call to make. Anyone wanna chat while I’m on hold?
Good luck to all.
I finally googled this problem and I’m so glad that I found your blog! The funny thing for me is that after having COVID-19 and now brain fog, access to my information is virtually impossible! can’t see my credit reports or do random things when they ask these questions. I’ve never passed these tests before, but I remained hopeful! Now I’m surely doomed to failure! …and with no in person appointments this is going to be a nightmare for many.
This is awesome and so ON POINT!
I have been trying to access MY information as well and been very successful at not accessing any of it. I do remember the answers to my security questions and still have been locked out because they were supposedly incorrect. I even opted for a code to be mailed to me and NEVER received it. Very FRUSTRATING that our own government can’t create a user friendly website to obtain our own information.
Love the letter. Maybe all of us that agree with you, should send the exact same one. LOL!
It’s now 2021, and the %$#@^@! mySSA.gov process is still as messed up as it was in 2014.
Maybe the best way to make a system secure is to make sure no one gets access?
I agree with everything you said. I’m finding myself in the same shoes you were in a few years ago! Currently, I am locked out of a form I need to complete, with the proclamation from SSA that it cannot deal with me right now.
My main beef with them right now though, is their Website hours. It shuts down during the night! It’s a website! It’s as if someone were there to help you if you don’t know yourself at 2am.
I’m glad I found this article tonight.
I am 64 and a half and trying to get signed up for Medicare which I can’t do until I set up my Social Security account. I tried to do so on Feb 1. Answered everything with no problem and clicked to send code via email.
Nope. You get snail mail. Waited two weeks for that letter.
Sat down tonight to finish setting up the account. Entered code and then set up username and password. Set up security questions. Damn site won’t take my username. Said I have to check for availability.
What?
You mean I have to try to sit here in 10 minutes and think up a username that no one else is using? So I randomly put together a username again. Nope. Won’t take any of it.
I am very upset needless to say.
Same thing happened to me.
I am trying to fill out legal documents for my father that require both his retirement date (about 25 years ago doesn’t cut it) and my employee identification number. I have our correct sign-in names and passwords and yet could not get into either of our accounts. So now there are two agencies waiting for me to get through on the phone to get the information I need. It is beyond unacceptable to tout an easy-to-use site that I cannot access when needed.
*Feel free to add this letter to any others you compile and send it to SSA!
We have our 2 accounts for years now, made with no problems at all. I logon here and there just to be active on it. Need user IDs, passwords and verification codes that they send me in email each time, in a minute or two and that’s it. Hope you all will have a better luck soon 🙂
Thank you for your article.
I have struggled with this for a few month’s now and after an hour and a half waiting for assistance, listening to a recording repeat itself over and over, finally believing I had actually reached a live person, the phone call is dropped and once again I am disconnected. Upset and three disconnected calls later I throw my hands up in the air.
Overwhelmed and frustrated.
Next month rolls around and I am reminded the significant and very important reason I was obtaining assistance in the first place. Once again the crazy cycle starts. I am glad that at least it isn’t just me.
Thank You.
I did not get to the prove your identity questions. Instead I got this rude statement:
“We cannot create an account for the Social Security number you entered. For further assistance, please contact us.” and a box labeled “Exit.” Now the problem with “contact us” is that their phone number promises to be a phone tree nightmare and their office is located in the Seattle Federal Building on 2nd Avenue that has locked doors with security guards who tell you that the building is close due to COVID-19. I picked a lousy year to reach age 62.
My SSA is a trash website. Created a My SSA acct. years ago, and now I’m unable to sign in or even create a new acct. When I sign in I get “Unable to find acct.” When I use same info to create an acct., I get “Info already used in existing acct.” So f**k My SSA. Maybe I’ll find a Russian website to access my info.
I, too, am locked out of my own data. Apparently, uploading copies of my ID, putting in my own SSN, and then telling me my phone number provided doesn’t match any account in my name. The funny thing is….they texted me at that number 30 mins earlier to verify my identity.
WTH.
Like I have hours to wait on the phone to resolve this. I just want to know…what have I put in and what will I get when I retire because I’m trying to do my retirement planning. This is asinine.
I’ve attempted to create an online SSA account at least ten (10) times unsuccessfully. I am the person who provided the SSA with all of the data in the first place (including my mother’s maiden name), yet the SSA’s idiot online A.I. “cannot create an online account with the information you provided.”
I didn’t even make it to the security questions page. As I don’t want to be a debt slave I don’t use credit and thus don’t have a credit history.
I think the United States government’s SSA ‘Create your online account’ website was coded by nepotistically hired, unqualified people who don’t know the difference between, IF (value) & ELSE IF (value).
Their shoddily coded website is a prime example of why the denizens of the stinky swamp perpetuate poor public service by hiring and promoting similarily unqualified persons to perform vital services for the public.
Its wasteful, inefficient, and a disservice to society and these bureaucrats seem to think that the taxpayers work for them.
My mother-in-law is 91 years old and currently lives in a nursing home. My wife is her power of attorney. Today we tried to access her online account again only to find out it is locked again. After waiting to talk to someone on the phone we got what we needed but learned that we would need to make an appointment, gather up identification papers, go take my mother-in-law out of the nursing home and drive an hour each way to a SSI office to prove who she is before they would unlock her login. She has a flip phone but can barely use it, much less know how to text or get messages. I’ve had to go thru this process once before. If I have to go thru it every time I need something from SSI what good is the web site. It’s a waste of time and tax payers’ money and very very frustrating.
It’s been going on for 10 years that I have been trying to just get a replacement Social Security card (for identity purposes). I had been locked out of the Social Security site and was also told that the questions came from my credit report (Equifax) so naturally, I tried to get into my Equifax and was subsequently locked out because I once again did not recognize the security questions. I just recently was able to get back on Equifax thanks to a helpful employee, and none of the security questions were located in my credit report. When I called and asked about this I was met with “I don’t know”… What am I supposed to do with “I don’t know” from the company providing inaccurate information about me to the government that relies on this information to make sure I am who I say I am and preventing me from moving forward on so many levels… Anyway, my point is if you get these questions and they don’t hold any relevance to your life then you can look to Equifax as the culprit.
Having the same problem mate! Where do you receive the activation code from? My god!
This is the worst system ever! My 95 year old Mom needs to get her deposit account routing number changed as her bank was bought by another.
She has no computer. I tried setting up an account for her with no success.
I called for her with all the right answers and no success. She counts on this money to live. She is crying and I’m not sure what more I can do. Now the offices are closed. How is this helping Americans, especially older ones?
Most of these comments are talking about the credit history questions but I think that is only if you select the extra security option because I was able to create an account for myself and only had to create the questions and answers to the questions which I usually write down for the future because I won’t remember.
Currently I am trying to create an account for my son who receives SSI due to a disability and every time I get to the part to create a user name and password, I get a message that says it is already being used and to try again. I tried 3 times and keep getting the same message.
He also received a letter from the local office saying they need to speak to him to verify he still is eligible to receive benefits. But they sent the letter after the date of the phone appointment and it is impossible to talk to someone from there even though the letter gives the name and the extension of who to talk to. I leave messages and they never call back and now he’s gotten a second letter and they say if we don’t hear from you we will stop your benefits and possibly your Medicaid.
They make it very difficult to get a hold of them but I did call and talk to another rep. And they made an appointment for the next day for someone to call but they did not call and like I said now he’s gotten a second letter saying they need to hear from him by next week. So I called once again and left a message and I am going to try again and create an account on the website.
I was just successful at creating an account for my son! Before it kept telling me that the user name was already being used so I kept trying until I created one not in use.
I don’t see my previous comment on here but I was saying something about the credit history questions that most people had trouble with. The option to use credit history questions is if you do not have a valid ID. My son’s ID was from another state but I was still able to enter the number manually, which I chose instead of taking a photo with my phone and it worked.
I hope you all keep trying because it is possible if you just use limited options instead of extra security to verify you. Good luck to you all!
What can I do when the phone rep cannot help to unblock the account and the SS office is closed???
What in the world am I supposed to do about the M.I. when I don’t have a middle initial to even put in there? It keeps saying I need something in it but I don’t have a middle initial—why make something that’s apparently optional and that can be omitted be a requirement to register, absolutely ridiculous.
Oh my heavenly gosh … I’ve tried 10 times now to access my soc. sec. site … what a joke … yes, in order to get any information you might as well call them … at least you’ll get some answers that way …
So. I keep trying to log in to my SSA account. I’ve had my account for 5 years. Used to be easy-peasy. NOT NO MORE!!!! Now, no matter what I do, I cannot log in. First it says they can’t verify my information. Hmm. Then it says to use this login.gov crap. Then they want my information they’ve had for 5 years, i.e., name, address, etc. Then it says they already have that info. Click this then that. Takes you right back to the beginning. It’s an endless loop. Yes, I tried the “forgot password” button. Never, never have I received the email to reset any password. I have tried 3 different email addresses, ALL with the same results. I’M DONE!!
I have been trying since 12:30 pm and it is now 7:10 pm, and after talking to 4 reps of the PNC Bank, every time I put the last 4 digits of my SS #, I received a nasty reply that I didn’t put the correct info in and was denied entry into my account. I am 84 years old and can’t tell you how many times I have entered my SS # info. I still have all my marbles and a mistake was NOT made on my part. Did my SS # change overnight? I doubt that. I am so angry I feel as if I want to change banks. Is there anything wrong with the SS Admin today. ( I don’t think so). I am at a loss as to what to do. Do any of the bank reps know what they are doing?
I agree with everything this person said.
Today was not successful in getting access. Several attempts with varying degrees of processing through without getting close enough to get a copy of a recent 1099 for tax purposes. Could not prove who I am well enough for any access. Wasted more than half a day. Locked out !! System has some flaws.
January 2022. The site still sucks. Budget cuts. Outsourced software developers. Covid. Many excuses. I’ll drive to the ssa office. They hopefully haven’t replaced everyone with a defective computer yet.
I can’t get MySSA to work and I need to be able to communicate with SSA as a SSA recipient with missing income payments.
There was a mess up by a banker at my bank and I’m still NOT receiving my income and online technique isn’t filling the void of shutdown SSA offices.
I need to do SSA transactions in person. But they are all shutdown still as of March 4, 2020. I’ve been without my own income for 8 months now. And it wasn’t my fault.
I believe the situation in some cases is outright sinister. I think some employees of the Social Security Administration — the one I spoke with anyway —didn’t think it should exist at all, and certainly shouldn’t be paying out money to keep disabled people alive.
The Claims Representative I spoke to today, S****, in the downtown Fort Worth Texas office told me,”It is neither here nor there that you don’t get the back benefits that you missed out on. That’s just not going to happen.” She repeated that statement, twice! She stated that there was nothing in my file to show that I had ever called before the date of the call she was responding to. That was a lie. I have an email confirmation from the Social Security Administration themselves proving I filed. I offered to forward it back to her. She refused.
She said it would not do me any good anyway. I offered her recordings of the calls with her coworkers stating that they could see on their computer screen that nobody called me for those scheduled appointments. They admitted dropping the ball, but told me that since I had filed it preserved my back benefits. “S****” told me that wasn’t true. She also gave me wrong information about which benefit I should apply for. She applied for disabled survivors benefits instead of caretaker for a disabled child, which has a considerably higher monthly benefit. She also came very close to refusing to even tell me what the actual dollar amount difference was between the two. She did finally say it was only a $9 difference, which is not possible. She was also willing to alter government records, or at least lie about the contents and was willing to cheat a disabled widow and her disabled son out of money we desperately need to survive.
I’m a disabled widow with a disabled son, for God’s sake! Can “Christian” conservatives not be trusted to do a job anymore? Do they really believe that’s WWJD (what Jesus would do)? Doing it her way will also mean having to qualify for disability myself again. It took nearly 3 years to finally be approved in the first place with a collapsing spine and seizures among several other things.
When I requested to speak with a supervisor she told me she didn’t have one. I asked if there was anyone else I could talk to and she told me no. She was obviously perturbed that I was asking questions at all. The recording of the phone call with her is telling. The back benefits amount to about $21K. After days and days, and hours upon hours on hold, I managed to get 2 appointments scheduled. Two appointments that Social Security Administration employees just flat blew off! No phone call at all…either time!
“S****” repeated that I had 6 months to file. I offered to forward the email I have as proof that I did indeed file. She claimed she could not find anything about any previous attempts. That was a lie I later found out.
I called back a few minutes after speaking to “S****” and spoke to a kind man who forwarded me the copy that he had quite easily found. I also have neurological issues that affect my memory, so I also recorded all of the conversations with the other representative I spoke with. She did not care. I’ll repeat that, she did not care. She did not want proof. She was going to get to rob a couple of disabled people and she kind of enjoyed it. That’s evident from the call. And, just as she said, we were just going round and round on that issue. I have the recordings proving that the reps I spoke to on the phone admitted their screen showed that nobody called me on the dates of those appointments.
I am horribly disabled. My spinal cord is “invaginating” into my brain, due to a genetic disease. My son is autistic and suffers from the same genetic spinal disease that I have. My husband died in 2021 at the age of 52. I need this help! They are going to rob a disabled widow and her disabled son intentionally.
That’s just criminal.
Similar HORRENDOUS experience with the ssa.gov/myaccount website. All I need is to access the site to find out my estimated benefits when I retire. Have jumped through hoop after hoop over several days thinking I finally had everything they needed to verify that I am myself. My current address where I have lived for almost 10 years apparently wasn’t going through, so I tried my last address. Then today I suddenly get an error message stating my online access has been suspended because I tried to access it too many times!! Now I must call and wait forever for a live person (since they are “upgrading” their 800 number) to [hopefully] give me the help I am needing. Absolutely vile.
Holy cow. Trying to help my mother today access her account. 3 separate calls (with very long wait times) only to find out that we don’t know the answers to the personal questions…the only available solution? Agree to terms and wait 5-10 BUSINESS DAYS for a temporary password letter. WTF?! I work in IT. This is completely fixable, SSA – the fact that this has been so broken for so long is simply an indication of neglect. At one point the person on the line asked if she could send us the info we need via fax – A FAX. Really, in 2022 you want to send this kind of info via fax (as if the average person has a fax machine or even a land line)? Resetting a password, finding your username is basic, basic stuff that should take minutes, not weeks. Disappointment is too soft a word to describe this experience. It is worse than awful. Take the site down for a month or two – tell everyone to call or visit an office – rebuild the front end of the portal – then go live again when it actually works. It would save everyone time and emotional energy.
I’m locked out…
Believe me I understand the feeling of frustration.
Don’t remember all the answers to all the questions and can’t access my account. I have followed all the steps to get back in and haven’t received a code that the office was to send via us mail and can’t get any answers to any questions.
It took me about a month to successfully set up my online account, but now it has become spotty whether I can sign in to it. My latest problem has been the temporary codes they send to unlock my account are expired by the time I receive them.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this while being on hold for an hour now listening to that rage-inducing jazz piano elevator hold song…for the 38th time since becoming my dads rep payee. Why? Because I’ve NEVER been able to access his account or my own.
I especially find it mind boggling how the simplest request can take 6+ months and All calls thus far to the national office have been met with gaslighting hostility. I’m a calm and kind person. Why is that necessary?
They can’t have their heads in the sand that much to not be aware of how agonizingly annoying this never ending loop of maybe moving forward 2% gets over time. I cannot even fathom how impossible this process is for seniors who don’t have their kids to help them. It’s really an inexcusable system and yet another embarrassing show of incompetence.
I’m having trouble logging in my account. It’s been years. I need to update my phone number also. How can I retrieve my username and password? I’ve tried all the important questions, and it says it’s not right.
Aaaah. I empathize with you. I too am locked out of my Social Security account. It’s been so long ago, I’m not even sure why or which question tripped me up. It’s especially embarrassing for me since I retired from the Social Security Administration after 32 years of faithful service.
Nothing has changed with their site. Locked out multiple times. No help from support. Going to have to go their office.
I have tried about 4 times to get in. Each time I got locked out and I requested a code emailed to my address. I have never received any correspondence from SSA with my code. I double-check and my address is correct, so idk, is there someone answering Web questions? I guess I just need to go to the SSA office also?
Thx,
Deborah
I am a retired IT professional with awards and the Social Security website is a disaster which keeps getting worse with every new login method outsourced to a subcontractor for profit.
It’s a disgusting minefield nearly impossible for non tech savvy retirees, the same people it is supposed to serve.
And the insistence of calling on the phone is 19th Century. Try getting someone to answer. Try harder after a few hours on hold listening to nonsense elevator music or marketing hype about how we want to “help” you and how “important” you are.
Only to get transferred to at least three people who have nothing to offer and don’t care because you’re keeping them from their smoke break.
I would fire everyone associated with this disaster and hire a team devoted to make it work for the people it’s intended to serve.
It’s not that hard to make IT work even with decent security.
But you have to want to do it.