You’ve probably heard the bold claims: Social Security is riddled with fraud, with millions of dead people somehow cashing government checks. It’s a narrative that’s been pushed hard by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and echoed by President Donald Trump. But here’s the thing — the numbers just don’t add up.
When you’re looking to cut $2 trillion from the federal budget, Social Security’s massive $1.6 trillion annual payout makes it an obvious target. The problem? There’s not much fraud to find.
The vampire benefits that weren’t real
In one of his most eye-catching claims, Musk posted on X (Twitter) on Feb. 16 that the Social Security database includes more than 20 million living people who are 100 or older — including one person who is at least 360 years old.
“Maybe Twilight is real and there are a lot of vampires collecting Social Security,” Musk added.
President Trump ran with this during his March 4 address to Congress, even mentioning the supposed 360-year-old: “More than 100 years older than our country,” he joked to laughter.
Sounds shocking, right? But when Social Security staff actually checked, they found just 1,294 Americans older than 100 who were receiving benefits as of Feb. 19, according to internal records obtained by The Washington Post. Staff contacted 1,107 of those beneficiaries and confirmed 905 were alive and 202 were dead.
That’s 202 potentially improper payments — not 20 million.
What records really show
If you’re wondering about the real numbers, they’re pretty impressive — just not in the way Musk suggested.
Less than one-third of 1% of deaths reported to the Social Security Administration each year are erroneous, according to a March 17 blog post from the agency itself.
An internal review of data from 2015 through 2022 found $71.8 billion (0.84%) of benefit payments were improper, with most improper payments being overpayments. That’s about $9 billion annually, and Social Security recovered as much as $4.9 billion of it each year.
When it comes to actual fraud (not just mistakes), an internal review of Social Security retirement and disability benefits data from 2020 through 2023 found that fraud accounted for less than 3% of overpayments.
For perspective, a 2024 report from the Government Accountability Office, an independent federal agency, listed 16 federal programs with improper payment rates of at least 10% — and Social Security wasn’t among them.
Already under the microscope
The Social Security program is already heavily scrutinized.
For example, the Social Security Administration’s Office of Inspector General, an independent agency, constantly investigates potential Social Security fraud.
Congress also provides oversight of Social Security through frequent hearings.
In fact, last year’s congressional hearings weren’t focused on fraud but on Social Security being too aggressive in clawing back accidental overpayments from seniors.
“It’s extremely closely watched,” said Nancy Altman, president of the advocacy group Social Security Works said of the Social Security Administration.
Why the confusion?
So where did those wild numbers about ancient beneficiaries come from? It comes down to database management.
Social Security maintains records on nearly every American, including millions who died decades ago before modern record-keeping. While these old files might lack death dates, that doesn’t mean checks are being mailed.
Agency auditors confirmed in 2023 that 98% of those without recorded death dates weren’t receiving benefits and were already known to be deceased. Officials determined it would cost more to clean up these old records than to simply leave them be.
Even Mark Warshawsky, a former agency deputy now at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, quickly dismissed DOGE’s claims about massive fraud.
Could cutting actually increase fraud?
Here’s the irony — some of DOGE’s cost-cutting moves might actually make fraud worse.
The team has canceled numerous Social Security contracts, with a DOGE website claiming $50.3 million in savings. Among the cuts: funding for research to prevent impostor scams, where criminals pretend to be from Social Security to con seniors out of their savings.
These scams cost Americans at least $577 million last year, according to the Inspector General.
Meanwhile, the Social Security inspector general’s office — the very people hunting for fraud — is expected to lose up to 20% of its staff due to budget cuts. This comes after the inspector general was fired in the first days of the Trump administration.
Here’s the real question
While everyone can agree government waste should be eliminated, the evidence suggests Social Security isn’t the fraud-ridden mess that’s been portrayed. When you’re collecting and distributing $1.6 trillion annually to over 70 million Americans, a 99% accuracy rate is remarkably efficient.
For the average American worried about their benefits, the real threat likely isn’t fraud but whether these efficiency efforts might end up cutting services or making it harder to access the benefits you’ve earned through years of payroll contributions.
So, if there’s little fraud to uncover at Social Security, why are the President and Elon Musk insisting to millions of Americans, without proof, that Social Security is rife with fraud? They certainly have access to the facts. So why spread non-facts?
If I were the cynical type, I might think they were doing it deliberately to undermine the agency’s credibility in order to radically change the program; for example, by privatizing it.
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