Galong

My guy was named Mark. It could easily be a bot, but this bot was programmed better.

Thanks a lot for the feedback on the various programs. I wonder if my Skype number can be ported to Sonetel as a landline? 🤔

HAPPY DAYS... I'm reinstated! 🥳 This time I had what appears to be a human responding to my ticket. I got in AND setup my new PassKey in the MFA section. Now I can finally relax.

I've got a YubiKey physical passkey now. So if ID.me ever does get back to me (it's been over a week), I'll try to get my MFA changed to using the passkey. What a headache for something that should be resolved instantly. I'm surprised they're not asking me to fax them.

Yes, I looked into it and saw some potential issues... sorry, I don't recall exactly what they were. I seem to remember something about not being able to port my US Skype number or having to change my Skype number from a landline (which it is now) to a mobile number. That would greatly decrease the chance of it being useable for verification codes and OTPs, which is my main reason for having Skype. I have wasted so much time as I'm sure many of you have too. This sucks.

Sigh, I've added ChaiyaTH to my blocked list, which means almost nothing on this forum. Yes, same boat... still struggling to find a reasonably-priced alternative or even an expensive option that's 100% solid. I never realized Skype was in a league of its own. I never had a reason to check as I assumed it would be around forever. 🤷‍♂️

Thanks for doing the research as I was looking at some of these options. I assumed they sucked... you verified it. 🙏

Yeah, seriously... just raise the price. I'd pay more for Skype. I have a buddy who travels constantly and uses GoogleFi. He says if he doesn't pop back in to the US periodically he'll lose it. I only visit the US every 3 or so years. When my mom passes, I have no reason to ever step foot on US soil again.

From ChatGPT: If you have a Skype Number → No, Skype does not support receiving SMS to a Skype Number. That's me out then. I ONLY care about being able to get bank codes and OTPs. Teams is of absolutely no interest to me. It's not a replacement for Skype at all! MS drops the ball yet again.

Crikey... this isn't rocket science. If they have an alternative plan whereby we can keep using Skype they should CLEARLY say that. 🤦

Everything I'm reading says Skype will close and we'll have to use Teams. I just signed in at the www.skype site and didn't notice anything to the contrary. What am I missing? I'd really like to keep my Skype US (landline) number for bank codes and OTPs. 🤞

Are you saying that you know some US expats who lost their Social Security? If so, could you explain how they lost it, please?

Thanks, Exant... you nailed it. We seem to be cast aside when we're old. I started working a regular job at 14 (started paying SS as soon as I could) and there were no gaps in my employment until I moved to Thailand. SS is mine! I should be able to access it from anywhere. I don't see the communication issue getting any better in the next few years... quite the opposite. ID.me is NOT a government agency. They should communicate better or the government should give the identification contract to someone else... ID.me is robot-driven and these robots have a minimal vocabulary skill/data from my recent experiences. I asked simple direct questions and got an unrelated (obviously) cut-and-paste responses. 🤦🤦🤦 I then submit a ticket and cross my fingers. Finger crossing shouldn't be part of the US government's way of doing business. 😤

They need an 800 number!

What I've read is you can make the passkey the default MFA method and if for some reason it doesn't work, you can try the user name/PW option. This is all unnecessarily sketchy given that there is no emergency way to contact ID.me if everything fails. Roy needs to be fired. 😒

When it first happened, I got a video chat right away. I tried to login without using a VPN, which is what I usually do. It didn't work. I tried next with a VNP and got in! A bit later, I tried the regular way and that's when I actually got my first 'temporarily suspended' notification. Prior to that, it simply didn't work. I put in another ticket a couple of days ago and haven't heard back. Now, I want them to wait until I get a new Passkey from BKK. I'll hopefully be able to set that up with ID.me and eliminate the problem. 🤞 Passkeys are not cheap. I got one of the cheaper ones and it was still 1,800 baht. Oh well, I'll use it to log into other things, so not a waste if it doesn't work for ID.me.

They (ID.me) recommend Chrome, but what you're saying makes sense. I did try Edge and couldn't get it. I have zero idea why my account is 'temporarily suspended'. The bots that talk to me don't understand plain English.

I don't know how Login.gov's customer service/help works, but ID.me's sucks! There's no way to contact them directly that I've found. they need a complaint department too so I can go 'full Karen' on them. 😉 I hope the lose their government contract. They don't deserve it. I've got a legit driver's license for another year and a half. I've got a passkey coming soon. Once I've got that. I'll contact ID.me again and see if they can help AND I'll see about creating a login.gov account... with the help of my brother's mobile phone. I have his house as my legit US address so that part is sorted.

Thanks for your information. I've watched a few YouTube videos this morning about setting up a Login.gov account. The problem I'll have is no US phone number in my name. However, login.gov apparently lets you continue by using old fashion mail to complete the process. I just ordered a passkey (electronic authenticator) and once I've got that, I'll attempt to get a login.gov account. I don't trust ID.me... and I'd simply like to have both ID.me and login.gov

I did a video chat with ID.me on the initial setup and again early this week to re-verify my identity. ChatGPT says, "No, Login.gov does not require a video chat verification for identity verification. Instead, the process involves uploading photos of your government-issued ID and, in some cases, a selfie." So, if I end up not being able to get ID.me resolved (and it's not looking like their side is interested in helping me), I might give login.gov a shot. Thanks for the info. 🙏

login.gov requires a US phone (not VOiP, Skype number, etc) in YOUR NAME from what I read online. I could get my brother to accept any validation code, but his phone is in his name. I don't really want to do anything that isn't 'by the book'. They seem to love to throw hurdles in front of us expats. We're not criminals, we're simply trying to access OUR government's sites legally. 🤦

Yeah, even when it works it's glitchy. How did they acquire (buy?) a contract with the US government? 🤔

When I was researching both last year, Login.gov seemed to require a US phone number and ID.me didn't. Were you able to get a login.gov account here without a US number? If so, how did you go about doing that? I'm definitely interested. Thanks in advance for any details. 🙏

I looked at Lazada and don't really like their guarantee or return policy. I'm going to get mine directly from SiamBC just for the peace of mind. They claim to have a really user-friendly policy if something goes wrong. This model is about 300 baht cheaper on Lazada, but 300 baht ain't worth the potential hassle. https://siambc.com/shop/all-products/yubikey-security-key-c-nfc-fido-u2f-fido2-yubico-security-key-2fa/?srsltid=AfmBOopHr2ZeY7xX2Y3uATz-AlARaA1Rc4XwLpLe35GWow-l7XypGlnl

Yeah, actually, I tried that a couple of days ago (user name and pw) and it still works. They swore that option was not going to be available many many months ago. I'm so glad it's still available. That's keeping me from going into full panic mode. 😉