How to verify if an email address is legitimate

[dealmaster]

If someone can please tell me how I would know if a email address is in fact from the government agency that it claims to be, I would really appreciate it. Some background- my wife worked as an independent provider for the nyc doe and now got a letter saying that her status will be deactivated as she hasn’t worked for a while (true) unless she emails an email address ending in schools.nyc.gov with her intent to continue and a social security number for verification. She has had to verify herself using her Social Security number in the past but before I send it out I would like to make sure there isn’t any way that a fraudster could get such an email address. If it would be helpful to provide the complete address I can do that. Thanks in advance

[Yo ssi]

Usually emails ending in .gov should be legit.
I can't imagine they require you to send to ssc via email, you can send an email explaining why you don't think that's secure and see what they say.

[Alexsei]

If you're composing a new email to en address ending in @schools.nyc.gov you can be 100% sure it will arrive to the appropriate place

[biobook]

@dealmaster

Never give out a social security number over email.  Even those who have justified access to your SSN won't send it in an email, but will include just the last 4 digits.  The question is not whether the email address is valid, but whether it can be intercepted by someone else, and your identity stolen.

How did she verify SSN the previous times?  Was it also after an email request?  I would expect a government agency to have a secure website where you could log on and submit it that way. 

Best would be to call the agency tomorrow morning and ask whether this is valid, and if so, if you can provide it over the phone.

[STL EQUITIES]

You can put the email address in quotes and google it. It will show up if it’s been in public documents

[biobook]

@dealmaster
But don't call any phone numbers that are in that email!  Find the phone number on the agency's website.

[dealmaster]

@dealmaster

Never give out a social security number over email.  Even those who have justified access to your SSN won't send it in an email, but will include just the last 4 digits.  The question is not whether the email address is valid, but whether it can be intercepted by someone else, and your identity stolen.

How did she verify SSN the previous times?  Was it also after an email request?  I would expect a government agency to have a secure website where you could log on and submit it that way. 

Best would be to call the agency tomorrow morning and ask whether this is valid, and if so, if you can provide it over the phone.

@dealmaster
But don't call any phone numbers that are in that email!  Find the phone number on the agency's website.

thank you, I think we will do that

[theblakdavid]

Check envelope information to confirm it is indeed from the email address it says it’s from , in addition to the above.

[WayBackMachine]

correct being on the receiving end doesn't prove much (at least its not fool proof) whenever you're sceptical weather its a phone call or an email, ask for an extension or Dept, check the contact info in the yellow pages or the most trusted source you can get and reach out, if they can continue great if not it's even better.

[a good yeshiva bachur]

If someone can please tell me how I would know if a email address is in fact from the government agency that it claims to be, I would really appreciate it. Some background- my wife worked as an independent provider for the nyc doe and now got a letter saying that her status will be deactivated as she hasn’t worked for a while (true) unless she emails an email address ending in schools.nyc.gov with her intent to continue and a social security number for verification. She has had to verify herself using her Social Security number in the past but before I send it out I would like to make sure there isn’t any way that a fraudster could get such an email address. If it would be helpful to provide the complete address I can do that. Thanks in advance

put the email address in google and search, see what comes up, if its real you'll know right away...

[dealmaster]

Thank you all for taking the time to answer my question. I really appreciate all the great advice and tips. I will try to proceed based on your feedback. Thank you again.

[shaulyaakov]

Just be careful as a common phishing scam is for the outgoing email address appear to be from a gov but when you reply it's a totally different email.

I wouldn't generally send a SSN in response to an unprompted email tbh.

[dealmaster]

Thank you everyone for all the ideas and tips. In the end I found the email address I was told to respond to on the DOE website, so I knew it was legitimate. Even so I only sent the last 4 digits and BH that was enough. Thanks again