Once I have opened an account online how can I detect that the emails I receive are from Social Security?
I can give you examples of websites pretending to direct you to Social Security that will help you detect fraudulent sites.
I would appreciate that but are there other resources available that I can use to learn more about phishing?
Yes you can do a Google search about phishing and learn more there or you can go to OnGuard Online which is a very informative site about phishing.