Elon Musk started a row earlier this week with claims that millions of dead Americans are still receiving Social Security benefits. However, experts say he is misreading government records and spreading misleading information, reports ABC news.
The allegations first surfaced last week when Musk, who was standing next to US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office, described” mad points” he had discovered in the Social Security system. He claimed that there were files of people who were” 150 years older” in the database.
Eventually, the technology billionaire reacted on social media by posting pictures of what appeared to be authorities data and suggesting there might be “millions” of people who were falsely listed as being in the Social Security system.
In a post where the blood-sucking souls live among mankind, Musk bragged that” Maybe Twilight is genuine, and there are a lot of demons collecting Social Security.”
At a press conference held in Mar-a-Lago, Trump read from a list of figures who allegedly supported the idea of structure fraud.
” The great thing is, how many of these folks got paid? Where do they receive their wages? If that’s the case, it’s a huge scam”, Trump said.
Why does Musk have a mistake about Social Security information?
Despite Musk’s says, Social Security researchers say he is misreading the information. The Social Security Administration ( SSA ) has several databases, and the one Musk seems to be citing—called Numident—records everyone who has ever had a Social Security number. However, it does not display who is really receiving benefits.
Kathleen Romig, chairman of Social Security and disability coverage at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, dismissed Musk’s says as immoral.
” When they’re throwing about figures like tens of millions of dead people are getting Social Security, also, there are only 67 million total consumers. What are they talking about? Half of the people are really dying, right? The statistics are so absurd. It’s no true”, Romig was quoted as saying to ABC News.
Numident databases
Numident includes some people who have long since passed away without having a dying day that has been recorded, especially those who lived before digital records were made available. This is not new information; government reviews have huge acknowledged that the program contains outdated information.
A 2023 inspector general’s report found almost 19 million people born before 1920 listed in the program without death records. But, this does not mean they are receiving benefits. Because it does not have an impact on actual Social Security payments, the SSA has much concluded that updating this information is unnecessary.
According to SSA statistics, only 0.1 % of the 67 million Social Security recipients are over the age of 100. The organization has a number of safeguards in place to stop dying people from obtaining rewards. For instance, unless the recipient constantly uses Medicare or provides evidence of life, payments are instantly stopped at 115 years old.
True concern
Researchers point out that the real problem with the Social Security system is overpayments to living participants, not to the deceased, despite Musk and Trump’s suggestion of a huge scam incident.
A July 2024 investigator common report found that from 2015 to 2022, the SSA made$ 71.8 billion in poor payment. Nevertheless, these errors—affecting roughly 1 % of payments—were largely due to operational mistakes and registration miscalculations rather than scam.
