Elon Musk has once again courted controversy claiming that "millions of vampires" have been collecting Social Security benefits. He alleges the US Social Security database includes millions of people over 100 years old - some as old as 300 - fraudulently receiving payments.
In a post on X, Musk wrote, "According to the Social Security database, these are the numbers of people in each age bucket with the death field set to FALSE! Maybe Twilight is real and there are a lot of vampires collecting Social Security."
Musk's claim aligns with statements from President Donald Trump, who recently suggested at a Florida press briefing that "millions and millions" of centenarians are still receiving Social Security benefits, calling it an example of government incompetence, AP reported.
However, both Musk's and Trump's claims have been debunked.
Fact Check
A 2024 report from the Social Security Administration (SSA) Inspector General confirmed that some payments were mistakenly made to dead people. But these accounted for less than 1 per cent of the $8.6 trillion paid in benefits between 2015 and 2022.
One big reason for the confusion is the SSA's outdated COBOL-based system, which doesn't handle dates properly. Missing or incomplete birthdates get a default reference point, sometimes over 150 years old. A 2023 SSA report also confirmed that "almost none" of these mistakenly listed individuals were actually receiving payments.
The SSA also has strict rules to prevent fraud. Since September 2015, it has automatically stopped payments to anyone listed as 115 years or older.
The Real Numbers
The SSA has records of 18.9 million Social Security numbers belonging to people born in 1920 or earlier not marked as dead. But this does not mean they are still alive or receiving payments.
In early 2024, the US Treasury recovered $31 million in mistaken payments sent to dead individuals - a tiny fraction of the $8.6 trillion paid out in benefits over the past decade.
The SSA expects to recover $215 million over three years through its ongoing fraud detection efforts.
Policy experts warn that misleading claims about "millions" of centenarians receiving benefits could create confusion about Social Security's actual financial challenges.
Social Security Commissioner Quits
Michelle King, Acting Commissioner of the Social Security Administration (SSA), has stepped down from her role.
Following her departure, President Trump has appointed Leland Dudek to lead the agency on an interim basis while Frank Bisignano, his nominee for SSA Commissioner, undergoes vetting by the Senate.
The White House has not given a direct reason for King's departure, but reports point to internal tensions over access to sensitive Social Security data.
According to Nancy Altman, president of the advocacy group Social Security Works, King resisted attempts by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to access the SSA's Enterprise Data Warehouse - a system containing personal and financial information on millions of Americans.
Altman told CBS News, "She was standing in the way, and they moved her out of the way. They put someone in who presumably they thought would cooperate and give them the keys to all our personal data."
Concerns about DOGE's access go beyond Social Security. Reports say the department has already tapped into Treasury payment systems and is now trying to access IRS databases. Experts warn that if DOGE gets full control of Social Security records, it could be a major privacy risk.
