In recent statements, former President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk have claimed that millions of deceased individuals—some allegedly hundreds of years old—are still receiving Social Security payments. However, these claims are vastly exaggerated and misrepresent official data. While some improper payments have been made, they represent a small fraction of overall Social Security disbursements, and there is no evidence that millions of deceased individuals are actively receiving benefits.
During a press briefing, Trump stated, “We have millions and millions of people over 100 years old” collecting Social Security payments, asserting that the system is riddled with fraud. Musk further fueled the claim on his social media platform X, joking about vampires collecting Social Security and labeling the issue a “HUGE problem.” Their assertions have sparked widespread debate, but government data contradicts their narrative.
On Wednesday, Social Security’s new acting commissioner, Lee Dudek, clarified that the alleged millions of centenarians in the system are simply individuals with Social Security numbers who lack a recorded date of death—not actual beneficiaries receiving payments. He assured that the agency, with the help of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), remains committed to eliminating fraudulent payments.
A July 2024 report from Social Security’s inspector general provides a clearer picture. From fiscal years 2015 to 2022, the agency paid out $8.6 trillion in benefits, with only $71.8 billion—less than 1%—classified as improper payments. The majority of these errors were overpayments to living beneficiaries, not deceased individuals.
Further efforts to recover funds have also been successful. In early 2025, the U.S. Treasury reclaimed over $31 million in improperly disbursed federal payments, including Social Security payments to deceased individuals. This was part of a three-year initiative granting Treasury access to the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) Full Death Master File, a comprehensive database of deceased individuals. Treasury estimates that it could recover more than $215 million by 2026.
The misunderstanding surrounding Social Security records partially stems from outdated systems. SSA’s database, which relies on the COBOL programming language, sometimes defaults birthdates to reference points over 150 years ago when actual birth dates are missing. A 2023 inspector general report found that 18.9 million Social Security numbers belonged to individuals born before 1920 and were not marked as deceased. However, this does not indicate that they are receiving payments. The SSA decided against updating its system due to costs exceeding $9 million.
Despite Trump and Musk’s claims, a 2023 report from the Social Security Office of Inspector General (OIG) stated that “almost none” of the individuals flagged in the database are actively receiving payments. Additionally, since 2015, the SSA has automatically stopped payments to any person listed as older than 115 years.
Experts warn that spreading misinformation about Social Security could mislead the public. Chuck Blahous, a researcher at George Mason University’s Mercatus Center, noted that while eliminating improper payments is important, Social Security’s financial challenges extend far beyond this issue. Medicaid, for example, has a much higher improper payment rate, particularly following the Affordable Care Act’s expansion.
Sita Nataraj Slavov, a professor at George Mason University, cautioned that claims like Musk’s and Trump’s oversimplify the problem. “The real concern is that this claim may mislead people into thinking there’s an easy fix to Social Security’s financial problems,” she explained. “But this is simply not true. Addressing solvency requires either higher taxes or reduced benefits.”
In response to the criticism, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt pointed to the SSA’s inspector general report, emphasizing the administration’s ongoing effort to identify and eliminate fraud. “The Social Security Administration is now working to find even more waste, fraud, and abuse in the whole-of-government effort to protect American taxpayers,” she stated.
While Social Security fraud is a legitimate concern, the evidence shows that the scale of the problem has been exaggerated. SSA’s existing safeguards, recent Treasury efforts, and continued oversight are addressing the issue, but solving Social Security’s long-term funding challenges will require a broader policy discussion beyond the claims of Trump and Musk.
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