Jan 12, 2015
I requested the start of the draw of retirement benefits, online. The webpage asked me to provide updated documentation of my income. Less than five minutes after dropping off that documentation at my local S.S.A. office I received a phone call from 718-557-3000. The caller identified herself as calling from S.S.A. and after I asked, said she was calling from S.S.A. office in Jamaica, NY. She was calling to advise me that because I delayed benefits beyond my nominal retirement age of 66, I had the option of either taking the amount for which I was eligible by delaying the draw (as I planned), or taking a lump sum of benefits for the past year and have a lesser monthly amount going forward. At first, I felt confident talking to them including confirming personal information. Upon reflection, I grew concerned regarding possible identity theft. Calling back was futile : you get the disturbing message that you have reached a non-working number. I became alarmed when I mis-dialed a call-back number that I requested in the original call. When I finally reached a human at a non-local SSA call center, despite a protracted conversation, she was unable to confirm it was an SSA phone number...huh??? At her recommendation I filed a report with the Federal Trade Commission office for identity theft: ftc.gov/idtheft . After an anxious weekend I got to my local SSA office where I learned that this was indeed a LEGITIMATE call from a real SSA call center (office code C-25), phone number 866.226.2306
From this, I learned that... the SSA DOES CALL BENEFICIARIES... that NOT EVERY SSA CUSTOMER REP IS KNOWLEDGEABLE... that phone communication with SSA is difficult (probably on purpose to support security) and confusing... and that I should not be lulled into a false sense of security in providing personal information over the phone just because I just stepped out of a SSA office.