Improving Social Security’s Service to Victims of Identity Theft Act

People facing misuse of their Social Security number or a card lost in the mail will have specially trained staff accountable for helping resolve their case.

What the law does ​

• Requires the Social Security Administration to assign a specially trained employee, team, or designated group to each case.
• Makes the designated staff responsible for tracking the case through resolution and coordinating with other agency units.
• Allows staff assignments to change while requiring the agency to preserve case records and history and notify the affected person when appropriate.
• Takes effect 180 days after enactment.

Who it affects ​

• People whose Social Security numbers have been misused.
• People whose Social Security cards were lost while being mailed to them.
• Social Security Administration employees and units handling these cases.

Breakdown ​

Improving Social Security’s Service to Victims of Identity Theft Act ​

This law requires the Social Security Administration to provide one consistent point of contact for people whose Social Security number has been misused or whose Social Security card was lost while being mailed to them. Specially trained employees must track each case through resolution and coordinate with other agency units to resolve problems as quickly as possible.

Key takeaways

• The single point of contact may be a team or designated group of specially trained Social Security Administration employees.
• The designated employees are responsible for coordinating with other agency units and remaining accountable until the case is resolved.
• The agency may change which employees handle a case, but it must preserve the case records and history and notify the affected person when appropriate.
• The requirements take effect 180 days after the law was enacted.