jackoak wrote: ↑Fri Dec 03, 2021 9:41 am
... asking me to submit personal info to ID.me site. I would like to know if people here have signed up for this site. Is it safe? ...
ID.me is legitimate. I was required to register with the ID.me website about 7 years ago to obtain veterans discounts for Apple and one or two others - probably Lowe's or Home Depot. At that time it was known as Troop ID. Now logging in to the military/veterans section of apple.com (to obtain 10% discount on iPhones, Mac computers, accessories) redirects me to id.me to verify status.
I don't recall the id.me registration process requiring extraordinary measures described above by others (phone call, video, pictures). I did have to submit documents such as my DD214 (military discharge/separation document).
jackoak wrote: ↑Fri Dec 03, 2021 9:41 am
... asking me to submit personal info to ID.me site. I would like to know if people here have signed up for this site. Is it safe? ...
ID.me is legitimate. I was required to register with the ID.me website about 7 years ago to obtain veterans discounts for Apple and one or two others - probably Lowe's or Home Depot. At that time it was known as Troop ID. Now logging in to the military/veterans section of apple.com (to obtain 10% discount on iPhones, Mac computers, accessories) redirects me to id.me to verify status.
I don't recall the id.me registration process requiring extraordinary measures described above by others (phone call, video, pictures). I did have to submit documents such as my DD214 (military discharge/separation document).
I am trying to set it up now for my IRA account, you're lucky you only had to upload documents. Now you have to do that AND selfies and some weird video selfie and a video call. I couldn't complete the registration today because the wait time for the video call was 41 minutes, and I didn't want to deal with it today.
It's not easy jumping through the hoops to get in. I've been trying to register my wife with the IRS.
I got in myself no problem.
For my wife, I'm on try number 5 or 6. Our passports weren't available...mailed away for renewal. If you have a passport and a driver's license and your name matches up exactly, you might have an easy time. A copy of the passport won't work; I didn't learn that until talking to the woman on the video conference.
One time I got everything ready on a computer without a required video camera so I quit. Later I found out that the video would be by my wife's IPhone; they emailed an invitation. The computer with video wasn't needed.
Once I finally found my wife's birth certificate with a seal. The maiden name wouldn't work without our wedding certificate which we cannot locate.
Bottom line: It would help if they stated the rules and procedures up front...in idiot proof fashion. Maybe there is a YouTube video?
I signed up with id.me this morning and it was relatively painless. I wasn't able to get their phone app to take a non-blurry picture of my driver's license so I just took one directly with my phone camera and uploaded it. I was successful in using their phone app to scan a selfie once I took my glasses off. I didn't have to upload a picture of my passport or do a video conference like other people are having to do.
punkinhead wrote: ↑Tue Dec 21, 2021 7:36 am
I signed up with id.me this morning and it was relatively painless. I wasn't able to get their phone app to take a non-blurry picture of my driver's license so I just took one directly with my phone camera and uploaded it. I was successful in using their phone app to scan a selfie once I took my glasses off. I didn't have to upload a picture of my passport or do a video conference like other people are having to do.
punkinhead wrote: ↑Tue Dec 21, 2021 7:36 am
I signed up with id.me this morning and it was relatively painless. I wasn't able to get their phone app to take a non-blurry picture of my driver's license so I just took one directly with my phone camera and uploaded it. I was successful in using their phone app to scan a selfie once I took my glasses off. I didn't have to upload a picture of my passport or do a video conference like other people are having to do.
Was your credit frozen?
I too had no issues signing up with id.me about two weeks ago. My credit is frozen, and my experience was similar to Pumkinhead’s. I uploaded a picture of my driver’s license. My driver’s license is a fairly recently issued Real ID license.
punkinhead wrote: ↑Tue Dec 21, 2021 7:36 am
I signed up with id.me this morning and it was relatively painless. I wasn't able to get their phone app to take a non-blurry picture of my driver's license so I just took one directly with my phone camera and uploaded it. I was successful in using their phone app to scan a selfie once I took my glasses off. I didn't have to upload a picture of my passport or do a video conference like other people are having to do.
punkinhead wrote: ↑Tue Dec 21, 2021 7:36 am
I signed up with id.me this morning and it was relatively painless. I wasn't able to get their phone app to take a non-blurry picture of my driver's license so I just took one directly with my phone camera and uploaded it. I was successful in using their phone app to scan a selfie once I took my glasses off. I didn't have to upload a picture of my passport or do a video conference like other people are having to do.
Was your credit frozen?
Yes. With all 3 agencies.
Thanks.
I was able to do the video call this morning, the wait time was listed as only 10 minutes as opposed to 41 minutes yesterday evening. Now I am all set.
My spouse has to set up her own ID.me account now. I am hoping she has an easier time.
I set it up a few weeks ago but IIRC, when I tried to use my passport, it wanted to make my first and middle names all my first name with the middle name field blank so when I told it that wasn't correct, it immediately went to video conference. Instead, I canceled and tried again with my DL which it properly broke the name up and went ahead with no video conference required.
punkinhead wrote: ↑Tue Dec 21, 2021 7:36 am
I signed up with id.me this morning and it was relatively painless. I wasn't able to get their phone app to take a non-blurry picture of my driver's license so I just took one directly with my phone camera and uploaded it. I was successful in using their phone app to scan a selfie once I took my glasses off. I didn't have to upload a picture of my passport or do a video conference like other people are having to do.
This was my experience. I was a little confused when I logged into the IRS site, and saw the mention of ID.Me. But was able to get verified with id.me fairly easily. At one point it looked like there might be a credit check, but all of my credit agencies are frozen and there was no problem.
I just made an estimated tax payment for 2021 using the Direct Pay website. I was not prompted to create an ID.me account. Just had to enter some info from a past tax return, as usual.
I have had an account for a very long time. It is a legitimate service.
Yes, and I am very grateful for it.
I miss out on a lot of veteran's discounts because I made the mistake of changing my name at marriage after discharge. So many people looking at my DD-214 reject me as a veteran because of the name difference. ID.me recognizes me. (I do have a "Veterans Identification Card" from the VA, but it is considered "informal" rather than official and some do not honor it.)
My mother was also a veteran but married before discharge.
I have had an account for a very long time. It is a legitimate service.
Its also (iirc) used for the trusted traveler program (global entry/precheck), so I'm assuming I'd.me is percolating throughout the us government as a one stop sign in.
Even the California DMV has gotten into the act....
For those of you who have a login to IRS.gov there will be a change coming this summer. You can no longer use your current login method and must use a new login with ID.me.
I tried today to open an ID.me login and encountered many problems. I tried scanning and taking photos of my driver's license, but the site did not like the photos of front and back. Then I tried my passport. It did not like a scan of the passport, but finally accepted a photo of it transferred from my phone. That wasn't enough, they wanted to scan my face and the software on ID.me went into an endless loop. So now I can login, but can't advance until I have fulfilled all of their requirements for facial recognition.
I have read other entries in Bogleheads and people mentioned frozen credit might cause a problem. I still have access to IRS.gov until this summer and wondering if perhaps better to wait and see it their site gets more user friendly.
Any experiences trying to convert from regular IRS.gov login to ID.me login at the IRS website?
UPDATE BELOW!
Last edited by EagertoLearnMore on Fri Jan 14, 2022 1:18 pm, edited 2 times in total.
It's a big pain to be sure, but as someone with credit frozen at all 3/4 bureaus, I can confirm having your credit unfrozen is NOT a requirement to successfully complete the registration process. I never unfroze.
EagertoLearnMore wrote: ↑Thu Jan 13, 2022 11:31 am
For those of you who have a login to IRS.gov there will be a change coming this summer. You can no longer use your current login method and must use a new login with ID.me.
I tried today to open an ID.me login and encountered many problems. I tried scanning and taking photos of my driver's license, but the site did not like the photos of front and back. Then I tried my passport. It did not like a scan of the passport, but finally accepted a photo of it transferred from my phone. That wasn't enough, they wanted to scan my face and the software on ID.me went into an endless loop. So now I can login, but can't advance until I have fulfilled all of their requirements for facial recognition.
I have read other entries in Bogleheads and people mentioned frozen credit might cause a problem. I still have access to IRS.gov until this summer and wondering if perhaps better to wait and see it there site gets more user friendly.
Any experiences trying to convert from regular IRS.gov login to ID.me login at the IRS website?
No option to convert. Was pretty much instructed by IRS site upon login with IRS id to go create a new ID.me account. ID.me also want a selfie in addition to photo of ID. Decided not to enroll.
Had to use ID.me to collect unemployment. A similar experience. It rejected my passport and drivers license scans 20-30 times saying something to the effect of they were in a nonstandard format. After 6-7 hours over several days I was able to find out how to get a human to verify manually.
Almost gave up, which I guess may be more of a feature than a bug
It went well for me a couple of days ago. After uploading IDs, I immediately got an invite for a video call to show them via selfie camera. Had to turn off auto-lock to stay on the website’s waiting list which took over an hour but glad to be able to do everything on the iPad.
EagertoLearnMore wrote: ↑Thu Jan 13, 2022 11:31 am
For those of you who have a login to IRS.gov there will be a change coming this summer. You can no longer use your current login method and must use a new login with ID.me.
I tried today to open an ID.me login and encountered many problems. I tried scanning and taking photos of my driver's license, but the site did not like the photos of front and back. Then I tried my passport. It did not like a scan of the passport, but finally accepted a photo of it transferred from my phone. That wasn't enough, they wanted to scan my face and the software on ID.me went into an endless loop. So now I can login, but can't advance until I have fulfilled all of their requirements for facial recognition.
I have read other entries in Bogleheads and people mentioned frozen credit might cause a problem. I still have access to IRS.gov until this summer and wondering if perhaps better to wait and see it their site gets more user friendly.
Any experiences trying to convert from regular IRS.gov login to ID.me login at the IRS website?
Are you trying to use your phone or a laptop to do the facial recognition? I had some trouble with my 4 year old smart phone (endless loop too), but I was able to get it to work on my chromebook. So if you have an issue with one device try another. It is just a website, so you can try on a tablet, someone else's phone, a laptop, a desktop with a web cam, etc.
I got the same notice when I logged in to irs.gov to get my personal identity pin. they allowed me to login so I was able to get the pin for this year but I need to create an ID.me account for next year.
I anticipate trouble since my cell phone is a TracFone and my landline phone is Google voice.
From what I have read, it helps to have a real ID drivers license which I do. Will they allow me to use my TracFone cell phone to login to their website?
It would be very helpful to me if those of you who are successful outline the steps that you took and details such as your cell phone carrier and landline provider.
I wanted to get my wife a logon to the IRS site with ID.ME.
No passport: I had just mailed her passport to have it renewed, so we didn't have that.
Her driver's license worked.
We needed another ID with exactly the same name; we went with a certified birth certificate.
When I entered and scanned her certified birth certificate, it said that her name was not exact and a marriage certificate was required. We added the marriage certificate. During the live video conference the agent said that the middle name on the birth certificate didn't match the marriage certificate. The birth certificate used her middle name. Her drivers license used her last name as a middle name. My wife asked for a second opinion and was finally approved.
Bottom Line: Security is tight. The agent in our case was probably inexperienced.
UPDATE: All of the phone bills were in my name, so the ID by phone choked for her.
Last edited by hudson on Fri Jan 14, 2022 5:46 am, edited 1 time in total.
dual wrote: ↑Thu Jan 13, 2022 7:45 pm
It would be very helpful to me if those of you who are successful outline the steps that you took and details such as your cell phone carrier and landline provider.
I already had an established ID.me account for access to veterans affairs. When I attempted to log on to IRS with it I was prompted for further identification. This happened about 10 days ago and was pain free. I uploaded images of the front and back of my drivers license and then they sent me a text on my cellphone that had a link to follow. This link established some sort of video connection to their servers which did some magic with my face (prompts were given on the screen) and I was done. I think part of the reason I'm so hazy on the recollection of the process is because it was so easy (for me anyway) and was over in about two shakes of a lambs tail. Maybe I got lucky.
Cellphone is AT&T, landline is is via Spectrum Communications (voice/internet/tv).
Went through this earlier this week. It also wouldn't let me past the selfie part and invited me to a video chat with a "referee". I waited about 1.5 hours at night, but gave up. Tried again around 7:45AM CST and got in video chat almost immediately. Video chat took 2 minutes. Annoying process, but yea.
dual wrote: ↑Thu Jan 13, 2022 7:45 pm
Will they allow me to use my TracFone cell phone to login to their website?
I have Tracfone also and I didn't get verified. From what I've found Googling around, no prepaid phone number will work. Has to be postpaid and in your name.
Thanks for the info! I had sign my mom up for ID.me and was wondering if IRS.gov login was still valid. I actually don't like multiple login, but is crossing my finger to make sure she won't have an issue and call me for help.
gavinsiu wrote: ↑Thu Jan 13, 2022 9:05 pm
Thanks for the info! I had sign my mom up for ID.me and was wondering if IRS.gov login was still valid. I actually don't like multiple login, but is crossing my finger to make sure she won't have an issue and call me for help.
The IRS.gov login is still valid, even if you have ID.me with IRS access set up. However, it sounds like the IRS.gov login will be discontinued sometime this summer.
dual wrote: ↑Thu Jan 13, 2022 7:45 pm
Will they allow me to use my TracFone cell phone to login to their website?
I have Tracfone also and I didn't get verified. From what I've found Googling around, no prepaid phone number will work. Has to be postpaid and in your name.
Did you try to sign up for an account with the phone? What happened?
After waiting 2.5 hours I finally had my video chat with a an ID.me representative. That was actually less time than initially stated time of 3+ hours.
The video chat was very quick, efficiently handled. Rep. looked at documents and confirmed they matched what I had uploaded. He asked me questions that were already on the documents and then took a photo.
Next step is to wait for email confirmation of this video chat being successful and finishing the signup process on IRS.gov.
I asked if this was coming to SSA.gov in the future. Not sure. Anybody hear anything about any other government sites needing ID.me soon?
Has anyone been able to create an IRSworthy ID.me account without taking a selfie with a smartphone or webcam as the irs.gov webpage about id.me says is required? I have neither.
I went through the process recently with the video verification and I was overall quite impressed with the experience. I want to point out that being "on hold" is not quite the same as when on the phone. It tells you the estimated time (mine was 60 mins) and there is a countdown clock. I simply went about my day and glanced at my computer screen here and there.
I loved the ID.ME experience because despite years of attempts I could not get my IRS account validated. I have requested countless snail-mail Pins, none of which would work when I received them for a reason I could never figure out.
side note, the ID representative was taken aback by my camera quality (logitech brio webcam attached to desktop). She said "I've never seen such a clear picture before and I can read your documents so well!". I got the same reaction from the representitive who certified my negative covid test prior to traveling.
If you have to ask "Is a Target Date fund right for me?", the answer is "Yes" (even in taxable accounts).
I created an ID.met login back in November 2021, I took a picture of my driver's license and selfie with my two years old iPhone. Video chat was not required at that time. My credit reports were frozen. In 30 minutes I received an email that my identity was verified. I could not register YubiKey for 2FA so I used Authy authenticator.
Maybe this whole process was easier two months ago.
EagertoLearnMore wrote: ↑Fri Jan 14, 2022 1:23 pm
I asked if this was coming to SSA.gov in the future. Not sure. Anybody hear anything about any other government sites needing ID.me soon?
I am able to login to "mySocialSecurity" account using ID.me. I never was able create a separate SSA.gov account.
egrets wrote: ↑Fri Jan 14, 2022 2:17 pm
Has anyone been able to create an IRSworthy ID.me account without taking a selfie with a smartphone or webcam as the irs.gov webpage about id.me says is required? I have neither.
Borrow a cell phone from a friend.
When I did this last year the phone number I used when I started the registration was my official landline. When it came time for the selfie (which must have text capability) and video chat I entered my rarely used TracFone number. That worked. I could have used anyone's cell phone for that purpose. Once verified I have never been contacted by ID.me on the cell phone. But every time I access ID.me I get a phone call on the landline for the PIN.
If you don't have ID.me can you still download forms and instructions? If wasn't clear to me from the irs webpage if not having this blocks one from the entire site or just parts of it.
egrets wrote: ↑Fri Jan 14, 2022 5:00 pm
If you don't have ID.me can you still download forms and instructions? If wasn't clear to me from the irs webpage if not having this blocks one from the entire site or just parts of it.
You can access the IRS website. You just can't access your personal information.
Duckie wrote: ↑Fri Jan 14, 2022 4:49 pm
Borrow a cell phone from a friend.
Apparently not, if the phone has to be owned by the person trying to register.
My landline is registered to me and is the only phone number on my ID.me account. My pre-paid TracFone is not registered to me. It's like a "burner" phone even though I've had it for years.
Even though I used it for verification, the TracFone number does not show up anywhere on my account. ID.me just needed some temporary way of getting a selfie / video chat. As long as the "official" phone number is accepted I think borrowing for selfie would work.
I recently completed Id.me on my desktop. It was a bit time consuming. I had to submit a passport photo 3 times before it was accepted, meaning I needed to take a better photo. The webcam scan wanted my face in the middle of the oval. Instead of slouching I tilted the display a bit. That did not work. Had to keep display straight and slouch, keeping face in the middle.
Finally worked.
Hope it dramatically reduces theft of our tax dollars!
Imo, if you are scanning your passport I think you will need to choose a very high resolution.
kjsammy wrote: ↑Fri Jan 14, 2022 5:36 pm
I recently completed Id.me on my desktop.
Did they require that you provide a telephone number?
In the past, none of my phone numbers have ever worked for any kind of official verification with the IRS or otherwise. Not my google voice number, not my verizon main number on the cell, not my wife's iphone number (but the account is in my name) and not my home landline.
But with ID.me I was able to use my cell phone to do what I needed, in that they don't rely on the phone number for verification but rather simply for sending you a link via text such that you can use the phone camera if needed. That's my understanding. But I opened the same link up on my desktop just fine.
If you have to ask "Is a Target Date fund right for me?", the answer is "Yes" (even in taxable accounts).
Scanned documents did not work for me. ID.me would not accept them. They said they weren't clear enough.
I took photos of the documents and uploaded them from the desktop. That was acceptable to them. I did the same with a photo, but they still wanted a live selfie and they would only accept seeing the documents live.
My driver's license has real ID and that was not good enough. Still wanted the live selfie and seeing documents in real time.
I just went to the SSA.gov site and now I see that ID.me has been added by the login, so that is probably the next government site that will only accept the ID.me login.
kjsammy wrote: ↑Fri Jan 14, 2022 5:36 pm
I recently completed Id.me on my desktop.
Did they require that you provide a telephone number?
In the past, none of my phone numbers have ever worked for any kind of official verification with the IRS or otherwise. Not my google voice number, not my verizon main number on the cell, not my wife's iphone number (but the account is in my name) and not my home landline.
But with ID.me I was able to use my cell phone to do what I needed, in that they don't rely on the phone number for verification but rather simply for sending you a link via text such that you can use the phone camera if needed. That's my understanding. But I opened the same link up on my desktop just fine.
thanks for the information. As I mentioned above, I have my IRS identity protection pin for 2022 and I will use it to file my tax returns. Once those go through I will try to create an ID.me account.
I think it's outrageous that they make it so difficult for people like me who use a TracFone cellphone and a Google voice landline to register. it seems to me that this is more theater than actual concern about real fraud possibilities. it is mentioned on this thread that other government websites are requiring id.me. The actionable item on my post is that I recommend that bogleheads contact their representatives to get the IRS and other agencies to act more reasonably.
dual wrote: ↑Fri Jan 14, 2022 6:56 pm
I think it's outrageous that they make it so difficult for people like me who use a TracFone cellphone and a Google voice landline to register. it seems to me that this is more theater than actual concern about real fraud possibilities. it is mentioned on this thread that other government websites are requiring id.me. The actionable item on my post is that I recommend that bogleheads contact their representatives to get the IRS and other agencies to act more reasonably.
I already emailed my Senator and Representative.
What else may they screw up besides the IRS and Social Security websites? I can't think of another one I use off hand.