This evening an email arrived, apparently from ssa.gov, telling me that I can find my COLA adjusted amount for next year by following the included links. EVERYTHING about the email looks legitimate. ALL the links are within the ssa.gov domain, though they are horribly long. By long, I mean the URL on the button labeled Log In Now was about 212 characters long.
And yes, I’m curios to know what my new amount will be. But NO, I’m NOT following that link.
I have a policy about links in emails that go to sites where I have any sort of account. I don’t follow them. Yeah, I make exceptions, such as following a track your package link in an Amazon email about an order I know I entered. I’m not so casual about things like banks, investments, or the government. Likewise for anything in an unsolicited email. So I did what I normally do with such things, and logged into ssa.gov directly, without using any links from the email. I went through two factor authentication, and I was in! Hmm. No sign of an announcement about my payment amounts after the COLA change. Lets look at messages. There I see messages on that topic, but from one and two years ago. Nothing new.
No, I don’t really believe I dodged a bullet, or that the authentic message was from anyone but the SSA. I just figure the SSA’s system is screwed up, and either sent the email too soon, or hasn’t gotten around to putting the message where it belongs. But I’m not so eager to see those numbers that I’m following that link.