Note: Once you've created your account on the SSA website, make sure your listed reported income is accurate - and keep checking on that every year. If your credit is already frozen, you’ll have to temporarily unfreeze it for this to work.)Įmployment identity theft - when someone uses your information to obtain a job (and sometimes doesn’t pay taxes on what they earn) - is another form of identity theft. (The SSA works with a credit bureau to verify your identity before opening your account. Just make sure that if you plan on creating a my Social Security account and freezing your credit (both good ideas), create the account first. “I’ve had people where, when they turned 70, they contacted Social Security - only to find out Social Security was paying someone under their identity for five years already,” says Carrie Kerskie, director of the Identity Fraud Institute at Hodges University. So why create an account even if retirement is far off? If you don’t, a criminal could do it on your behalf - and then apply for disability benefits (if you’re under 65), apply for Social Security benefits (earlier than you would have) or redirect benefits into a new bank account. That’s in case you need to apply for disability benefits - or access income summary statements to plan ahead for how much you can expect once you’re eligible for benefits. If you’re over 18, create a my Social Security accountĪnyone over the age of 18 can set up an account with the Social Security Administration (SSA). The answer is more substantial than simply freezing your credit.
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