Check a Social Security-related letter independently

Do not file a Social Security-related letter with the ads. The SSA warns that impersonators may send letters as well as calls and electronic messages, and that official-looking details do not prove who sent something. Verify the letter through a channel you already know belongs to the agency before you decide anything else.

By Junk Mail Magic. Updated October 2, 2026.

Verify through a channel you trust

Keep the letter and envelope. Note what the letter says it is about, any amount or action it asks for, and any date it gives.
Do not use the phone number, link or return address on the letter to check it.
Contact the agency through a channel you already know is real and ask whether it sent a notice like yours.
If the agency confirms the letter, keep it with your benefit records and follow the agency's instructions.
If the agency did not send it, treat it as a suspected scam and keep the letter in case you report it.

Sorting benefit mail from retirement marketing

Advertising about retirement or benefits can use seals, reference numbers and urgent wording. None of these tells you who actually sent the letter. Only the check with the agency does.

A mail-preference request only makes sense once you know a piece is commercial, and you send it to the company that mailed it. Real benefit letters should be kept, not opted out of. Questions about your own benefits go to the agency.

Private benefit-letter worksheet

Example for your own use. Replace the bracketed details and review what you share.

Date received: [date] Who the letter says it is from: [name] What it asks me to do: [request] Date stated: [date] Channel I used to verify: [method I already trust] Date verified: [date] Result: [agency sent it / agency did not send it / commercial sender / unsure] Next step: [keep with records / report / ask sender to stop]

Then decide what kind of letter it was

Write the agency's answer on the worksheet. If the letter turns out to be commercial, write down the company's name and decide whether to ask it to stop mailing you. If it was a scam, you can report suspected mail fraud to the Postal Inspection Service.

Official sources

Keep benefit renewal letters separate from advertising Verify a number printed on unfamiliar mail A mailed demand for gift-card codes is a scam Keep Social Security numbers out of mail photos Keep important mail All practical mail guides

Keep personal records with the organization that handles them

Junk Mail Magic is for ordinary unwanted advertising. Use the official contact route in this guide for records, account changes or someone else’s correspondence.

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