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. The claims first emerged last week when Musk, standing alongside US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office, spoke about “crazy things” he had found in the Social Security system. Musk later doubled down on social media, posting screenshots of what appeared to be government data and suggesting there could be “millions” of people fraudulently listed as alive in the system. The Social Security Administration has several databases, and the one Musk seems to be citing—called Numident—records everyone who has ever had a Social Security number. But it does not show who is actually receiving benefits, and only 0.1% of the 67 million Social Security recipients are over the age of 100, according to SSA statistics. The agency has multiple safeguards to prevent deceased individuals from collecting benefits, for example, payments are automatically stopped at age 115 unless the recipient actively uses Medicare or provides proof of life. A July 2024 inspector general report found that from 2015 to 2022, the SSA made $71.8 billion in improper payments. But these errors were largely due to administrative mistakes and eligibility miscalculations rather than fraud.
