Recent claims by President Donald Trump and adviser Elon Musk suggest that millions of deceased individuals, some purportedly over 100 years old, are receiving Social Security benefits. These assertions have been widely circulated, raising concerns about potential fraud within the Social Security Administration (SSA). However, a closer examination reveals that these claims are significantly exaggerated and misrepresent the actual data.
Examining the claims
In recent statements, President Trump alleged that “millions and millions of people over 100 years old” are fraudulently receiving Social Security benefits. He even mentioned an individual listed as 360 years old within the system. Similarly, Elon Musk, through his role in the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), expressed concerns on social media about “tens of millions” of deceased individuals being marked as alive in the Social Security system, suggesting a massive fraud issue.
These alarming figures have been met with skepticism. Lee Dudek, the acting commissioner of the SSA, clarified that while there are records of individuals over 100 without a recorded date of death, it doesn’t necessarily mean they are receiving benefits. He emphasized that these records often result from outdated data entry systems rather than active fraud.
Understanding the data
The SSA’s data management system, which relies on the COBOL programming language, has been identified as a source of some of these discrepancies. Due to limitations in the system, missing or incomplete birthdates can default to dates suggesting ages over 150 years. This technical quirk can create records of improbably aged individuals but doesn’t indicate that these individuals are receiving benefits.
Inspector general reports from March 2023 and July 2024 highlighted that approximately 18.9 million Social Security numbers belong to individuals born in 1920 or earlier without a recorded date of death. However, these reports also noted that “almost none of the number holders discussed in the report currently receive SSA payments.” The SSA has deemed the cost of updating these records—estimated at $9 million—as prohibitive, especially given the minimal impact on actual benefit payments.
Scope of improper payments
While any instance of improper payments is concerning, the scale of the issue within the SSA is relatively small. A July 2024 report from the SSA’s inspector general indicated that from fiscal years 2015 through 2022, the agency disbursed nearly $8.6 trillion in benefits, with $71.8 billion (less than 1%) identified as improper payments. The majority of these were overpayments to living beneficiaries, not payments to deceased individuals.
Efforts to recover improper payments are ongoing. In early 2025, the U.S. Treasury reclaimed over $31 million in various federal payments, including those from the SSA, that had been erroneously sent to deceased individuals. This recovery was part of a pilot program utilizing the SSA’s “Full Death Master File,” aiming to enhance the accuracy of death records across federal agencies.
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Expert perspectives
Experts caution against overstating the issue of improper payments within the SSA. Chuck Blahous, a senior research strategist at the Mercatus, noted that while addressing improper payments is important, the SSA’s error rates are relatively low compared to other federal programs. He pointed out that programs like Medicaid have higher improper payment rates, suggesting that focusing solely on the SSA might divert attention from more significant issues.
Sita Nataraj Slav ... George Mason University, expressed concern that sensational claims about widespread fraud could mislead the public. She emphasized that restoring solvency to Social Security requires comprehensive policy decisions, such as adjusting taxes or benefits, rather than relying on the elimination of improper payments alone.
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