Social Security retirement accounts are being sold online – What you need to know
An identity theft researcher at Georgia State University has found Social Security retirement accounts for sale online.
'They take over the SSA accounts. Then they change the account details on the Social Security Administration website, and then they funnel the payments,' said GSU Professor David Maimon.
Maimon showed Channel 2 consumer investigator Justin Gray a video an identity thief posted bragging about his access to a retiree's account.
'You can see the name, date and the balance,' Maimon said. 'The whole point of the scam is to try to take over there those individuals Social Security payments.'
The Trump Administration said new changes they are making this month to require more in-person identity verification are designed to prevent just this type of fraud.
'Americans deserve to have their Social Security records protected with the utmost integrity and vigilance,' said Lee Dudek, Acting Commissioner of Social Security. 'For far too long, the agency has used antiquated methods for proving identity. Social Security can better protect Americans while expediting service.'
RELATED STORIES:
New Social Security requirements pose barriers to rural communities without internet, transportation
Social Security in-person identity checks opposed by advocates and retirees alike
A list of the Social Security offices across the US expected to close this year
Under the new SSA policy being rolled out over the next 2 weeks, SSA beneficiaries will no longer be able to verify their identity by telephone.
People looking to claim benefits or change direct deposit who cannot use their personal 'My Social Security' account, which requires online identity proofing, will then need to visit a local Social Security office to prove their identity in person.
Former Social Security Commissioner Martin O'Malley counters that cuts in staff by the new SSA leadership will hurt not help protect from fraud.
SSA plans to cut 7,000 jobs even though its current staffing is already at a 50-year low.
'In one day, on one Friday, the entire leadership of the Cyber Security office left. What the public will see is longer and longer and longer and longer waiting times for everything,' O'Malley said.
Maimon told Gray that his team started seeing an increase in the SSA accounts for sale before the change in administration, and it has continued after.
'Usually, we see things rising and falling and because of the absence of control, criminals and fraudsters, thrive in times of crisis and times of change,' Maimon said.
Another step SSA says they are in the process of taking to limit fraud is using the Treasury Department's Account Verification Service for any direct deposit changes.
The Treasury system is designed to verify the existence, status, and ownership of bank accounts before making payments, reducing the risk of improper or fraudulent payments.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
8 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Atlanta dad's car now worth $30K — but he still owes $57K. Why Ramsey Show hosts say he's got to take a ‘bath'
Terrence from Atlanta has a budget problem, and he knows it. The Georgia father recently called in to The Ramsey Show seeking advice on how to get rid of his car, a 2021 Kia Stinger GT2 that costs him $1,200 a month. He also pays $2,000 in child support every month — a financial burden that leaves him with little breathing room despite earning a six-figure salary. Thanks to Jeff Bezos, you can now become a landlord for as little as $100 — and no, you don't have to deal with tenants or fix freezers. Here's how I'm 49 years old and have nothing saved for retirement — what should I do? Don't panic. Here are 6 of the easiest ways you can catch up (and fast) Nervous about the stock market in 2025? Find out how you can access this $1B private real estate fund (with as little as $10) 'I make $10,000 a month,' Terrence told co-hosts Ken Coleman and Dr. John Delony. 'I bring home $5,200 after taxes and child support.' Terrence bought the Stinger for about $60,000 — rolling in negative equity from a previous vehicle. Two years later and he still owes $57,000, but the car is now only worth about $30,000. 'Oh boy, that's a bath!' Coleman exclaimed. 'That is a bat right there.' Terrence's situation isn't rare. Unfortunately, many Americans find themselves 'car poor' — trapped by high monthly payments, inflated prices and interest rates that stretch already-thin budgets. According to CarEdge, the average price of a new car in the U.S. hovers around $48,699. Meanwhile, Experian reports the average monthly car payment for new vehicles sits at $742 as of Q4 2024. Interest rates on auto loans are also elevated, with new car buyers paying an average of 7.1% in Q1 2025, according to USA Today. All of this has led to Americans accumulating $1.64 trillion in auto loan debt as of Q1 2025, according to Trade Economics. Those numbers don't even factor in insurance, gas or maintenance costs. And with 20% of new car buyers now paying over $1,000 a month, Terrence is among a growing cohort of American drivers underwater on their loans. Read more: Want an extra $1,300,000 when you retire? Dave Ramsey says — and that 'anyone' can do it Terrence's question for the co-hosts was simple: what's the fastest, least painful way out of this situation? In order to give the co-hosts a complete picture of his finances, Terrence said he typically has between $1,300 and $1,400 remaining every month after paying his child support and other expenses. The co-hosts offered Terrence two potential escape routes. One option is to aggressively pay off the car over a long period of time by throwing $3,000 a month at the debt. However, that route might include some extreme budgeting and maybe even a few overtime shifts for Terrence. "If you take that $1,200 a month [car] payment, you take that $1,300 extra and you go through your budget with a magnifying glass. You stop going out for a season, and let's say you can scrounge up $3,000 [per month] that includes this $1,200. You can pay this thing off,' Deloney said. The other route calls for Terrence to sell the car now for around $30,000 and buy a reliable used vehicle — like a high-mileage Toyota or a Buick, which Terrence once owned and loved — for about $7,500, and then pay off a big chunk of the auto loan balance with the roughly $22,000 remaining from the sale of the car. This would leave Terrence with roughly $35,000 left on the auto loan, which means he wouldn't be out of the woods just yet. Either way, Terrence is going to have to pull himself up by his boot straps and create a frugal budget in order to get out of this financial hole. Ultimately, the co-hosts applauded Terrence's honesty and determination to change course. 'I've got a daughter who's about to go to college, so I want to have the money," Terrence said. Coleman and Delony's final piece of advice? Ditch the debt, drive a modest car and stay focused on long-term goals. Rich, young Americans are ditching the stormy stock market — here are the alternative assets they're banking on instead How much cash do you plan to keep on hand after you retire? Here are 3 of the biggest reasons you'll need a substantial stash of savings in retirement Robert Kiyosaki warns of a 'Greater Depression' coming to the US — with millions of Americans going poor. But he says these 2 'easy-money' assets will bring in 'great wealth'. How to get in now Here are 5 'must have' items that Americans (almost) always overpay for — and very quickly regret. How many are hurting you? Like what you read? Join 200,000+ readers and get the best of Moneywise straight to your inbox every week. This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
24 minutes ago
- Yahoo
How viral images are shaping views of L.A.'s immigration showdown
As protesters and police officers clashed in the streets of Los Angeles, a parallel conflict raged on social media, as immigration advocates and President Donald Trump's allies raced to shape public opinion on the impacts of mass deportations on American life. The sprawling protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids were captured from all angles by cellphones and body cameras and streamed in real time, giving a visceral immediacy to a conflict that led to more than 50 arrests and orders from the Trump administration to deploy the National Guard. Subscribe to The Post Most newsletter for the most important and interesting stories from The Washington Post. Amateur videographers and online creators shared some of the mayhem's most-talked-about videos and images, often devoid of context and aimed at different audiences. Clips showing officers firing less-lethal rounds at an Australian journalist or mounted police directing their horses to stride over a sitting man fueled outrage on one side, while those of self-driving Waymo cars on fire and protesters holding Mexican flags stoked the other. The protests have become the biggest spectacle yet of the months-long online war over deportations, as Trump allies work to convince Americans that the issue of undocumented immigration demands aggressive action. But immigrant families and advocates have also been winning attention, and seeking public support, through emotional clips of crying families grappling with removal orders, anti-ICE gatherings and young children in federal custody. The messaging war comes at a time of polarized public sentiment over Trump's immigration policies. An Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll in April found that roughly half the country believed Trump's deportations had gone too far, while the other half thought his actions were about right or hadn't gone far enough. 'To advance your side of the story, you need a piece of content that the algorithm likes. You need something that really grabs people's attention by the throat and doesn't let it go,' said Laura Edelson, an assistant professor at Northeastern University's Khoury College of Computer Sciences. 'If you're on the pro-ICE side of this, you need to find visual images of these protests that look really scary, look really dangerous because that's what's going to draw human attention,' she added. But if 'you don't think that ICE should be taking moms away from their families and kids, you're going to have a video that starts with a crying child's face.' A White House official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal plans, said Trump's digital strategists were following the president's lead by spotlighting images of destruction while insisting that he would always intervene in moments of unrest. The White House, which has said the ICE deportations are necessary to solve a national crisis, on Sunday posted an Instagram photo of Trump and a warning that looters and rioters would be given 'no mercy.' 'We're obviously following the president's direction. He is driving the message through his posts and his comments to the press,' the official said. 'We are definitely playing offense here. We are once again boxing the Democrats into the corner of defending criminal illegal aliens.' The unrest and its online propagation also heightened activity around projects like People Over Papers, a crowdsourced map for tracking the locations of ICE officers. Reports flooded in as the clashes continued, said Celeste, a project organizer in L.A. who spoke on the condition that her last name not be used for fear of government retribution. 'I haven't slept all weekend,' she said. She added, however, that she worried violent imagery from the ground could hurt the protesters' cause. She said she planned to start making Spanish-language videos for her 51,000 TikTok followers, explaining to skeptics that the violence isn't reflective of the protests, which she sees as necessary to counter ICE's agenda. The L.A. unrest followed weeks of online skirmishes over deportations, some of which have been touched off by the White House's strategy to lean into policy fights with bold and aggressive messaging. The White House last month posted a video that it said showed an 'EPIC takedown of 5 illegal aliens' outside a home improvement store and included an ICE hotline to solicit more tips. The clip, recorded by ICE agents' cameras, was liked 68,000 times but also drew criticism from commenters, who called it 'disturbing' and said this 'isn't a reality show.' After a similar ICE raid on Saturday outside a Home Depot in Paramount, a predominantly Latino suburb of L.A., witnesses sent out alerts on social media, and protesters raced to the scene. Within hours, the Trump administration called for the deployment of 2,000 National Guard troops to neutralize the unrest. On his Truth Social account a week earlier, Trump celebrated the Supreme Court clearing the way for the removal of some immigrants' legal protections by posting a photo of a jet-filled sky with the phrase, 'Let the Deportations Begin!' The White House has also posted stylized mug shots of unnamed immigrants it said were charged with heinous crimes. 'I love this version of the white house,' one commenter said, with a cry-laugh emoji. 'It feels like a movie every day with President Trump.' During the protests, the administration has worked with new-media figures and online influencers to promote its political points. Phil McGraw, the TV personality known as Dr. Phil who now runs the conservative media network Merit Street, posted an exclusive interview with border czar Tom Homan and embedded with ICE officers last week during L.A. raids, as the company's spokesperson first told CNN. Some top administration officials have worked to frame the protests in militaristic terms, with White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller on Saturday sharing a video of the protest and calling it 'an insurrection against the laws and sovereignty of the United States.' Others, like Vice President JD Vance, have treated it as a chance for dark jokes. When posters on X said Vance could do the 'funniest thing ever' by deporting Derek Guy, a prominent menswear commentator who discussed how his family had been undocumented after fleeing Vietnam, the vice president on Monday posted a brief clip of Jack Nicholson nodding with a sinister grin. Some far-right influencers urged their followers to identify people caught on camera during the civil unrest. In one X post with more than 29,000 likes, the account End Wokeness shared a video of masked figures throwing rocks at police from an overpass and said, 'These are insurrectionists trying to kill cops. Make them famous.' In more left-leaning online spaces, some posters watching from the sidelines offered advice on how protesters could best position their cause to the rest of the world. On the r/ICE_raids subreddit, some posters urged L.A. protesters to stop carrying non-American flags. It's 'adding ammo to ICE's justification,' one poster said, attaching a screenshot of a Homeland Security post showing masked protesters with Mexican flags. Many accounts, knowingly or unknowingly, shared images that warped the reality of what was happening on the ground. An X account with 388,000 followers called US Homeland Security News, which is not affiliated with DHS but paid for one of X's 'verified' blue check marks, posted a photo of bricks that it said had been ordered to be 'used by Democrat militants against ICE agents and staff!! It's Civil War!!' The photo actually originated on the website of a Malaysian construction-supply company. The post has nevertheless been viewed more than 800,000 times. On Sunday night, California Gov. Gavin Newsom's X account tried to combat some of the misinformation directly, saying a viral video post being passed around as evidence of the day's chaos was actually five years old. Even before the L.A. protests, the increased attention on ICE activity had driven a rush of online organizing and real-world information gathering, with some people opposed to mass deportations tracking the movements of ICE officers with plans to foil or disrupt raids. In one viral TikTok post last week, a Minneapolis protester marching in a crowd outside the site of a rumored ICE raid said he had learned of it from Reddit, where a photo had been posted of Homeland Security Investigations officers outside a Mexican restaurant. The local sheriff's office later told news crews that the operation was not an immigration-enforcement case and that no arrests had been made. Some online creators treated the L.A. clashes as a prized opportunity for viral content. On Reddit, accounts with names like LiveNews_24H posted 'crazy footage' compilations of the unrest and said it looked like a 'war zone.' On YouTube, Damon Heller, who comments on police helicopter footage and scanner calls under the name Smoke N' Scan, streamed the clashes on Sunday for nearly 12 hours. Jeremy Lee Quinn, a photographer who shares protest footage to his social media followers, posted to Instagram on Saturday a video of protesters cheering from a bridge as officers tried to extinguish a burning police vehicle. Quinn, who also documented Black Lives Matter marches and the U.S. Capitol riots, said viewers on the left and right treat viral videos like weapons in their arsenal. Far-left viewers might take away from the videos ideas for militant tactics to use in future protests, he said, while far-right viewers will promote the videos to suggest the other side craves more violent crime. Either way, his material gets seen - including through reposts by groups such as the LibsOfReddit subreddit, which shares screenshots mocking liberal views on undocumented immigrants and transgender people. 'You end up with a far-right ecosystem that thrives on these viral moments,' Quinn said. As short-form video and social media platforms increasingly become many Americans' news sources of choice, experts worry they could also amp up the fear and outrage engendered by polarizing events. The fragmentation of social media and the attention-chasing machinery of its recommendation algorithms helps ensure that 'there are a lot of people talking past each other,' said Northeastern's Edelson, not seeing one another's content or 'even aware of the facts that are relevant to the other side.' Darrell West, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank, said videos can play a uniquely forceful role in shaping people's reactions to current events because they 'encapsulate the emotion of the moment.' 'There's a heavy dose of misinformation,' he added. 'And, you know, people just end up getting angrier and angrier.' Related Content 'He's waging a war on us': As Trump escalates, Angelenos defend their city To save rhinos, conservationists are removing their horns Donald Trump and the art of the Oval Office confrontation
Yahoo
25 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Popular Sandwich Chain Port of Subs Announces 40 New Locations
There's nothing like a tasty, flavorful sandwich for lunch on a busy day. Over the past few decades, sandwich shops have really been booming in the U.S., and major chains such as Panera, Jersey Mike's and Subway have become staples in the lives and meals of millions of Americans. According to Restaurant Business Online, Subway and Arby's are the biggest sandwich chains in America. But, there's an up-and-coming chain that could be on the tally of the biggest sandwich spots soon. A popular sandwich chain has announced that it's opening 40 new locations. In a time when many chains are closing locations, that really says something positive about this business. That chain is Port of Subs, an iconic, 50-year legacy sandwich brand. With the move, Port of Subs is continuing its national expansion and adding 40 new locations across the Denver and Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan areas. Entrepreneurs Jagpal Pandher and Kunal Suri are leading this effort. "Port of Subs stood out for its rapid growth that has been making waves within the industry for the past three years and strong, loyal customer base," Pandher said, as reported by QSR Magazine. "We're building a franchise network that puts community and consistency first, and Port of Subs will help us accomplish that given its impressive legacy. Both Colorado and Texas are growing markets for the brand, and we're eager to support its expansion," Suri added. Healey Mendicino, President of Port of Subs, added that Pandher and Suri's "proven leadership and business experience make them the perfect partners as we accelerate our national expansion." Mendicino added, "This 40-unit deal is a major milestone in bringing our brand to more communities across Texas and Colorado, as these states are key growth markets for our brand." According to QSR Magazine, Port of Subs is "experiencing significant growth" right now and has more than "450 new units currently in development nationwide."Popular Sandwich Chain Port of Subs Announces 40 New Locations first appeared on Men's Journal on Jun 4, 2025 Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
