During his address to Congress Tuesday, President Donald Trump said that his administration has identified “probable fraud” related to the Social Security program. However, evidence of this fraud has not been revealed.
Let’s look at what he said and what data indicates.
Trump said his administration is “identifying shocking levels of incompetence and probable fraud in the Social Security program for our seniors, and that our seniors and people that we love rely on.” He went on to say that government databases list 4.7 million Social Security numbers from people aged 100 to 109 years old, 3.6 million people from ages 110 to 119, 3.47 million people from ages 120 to 129, 3.9 million people from ages 130 to 139, 3.5 million people from ages 140 to 149, 1.3 million people from ages 150 to 159 and more than 130,000 older than 160 years old.
“I don’t know any of them,” Trump quipped. “I know some people that are rather elderly but not quite that elderly.”
He also looked to new Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy and joked that “we have a healthier country than we thought,” before adding that his administration also found 1,039 people between the ages of 220 and 229, a person between the age of 240 and 249 and a person listed at 360, which Trump noted is older than the U.S. itself. As of last November, a 114-year-old woman was believed to be the oldest living person in North America.
According to Forbes, “there is broadly no evidence to support,” widespread fraud related to Social Security in the U.S. like the president described. It said that errors and abuse – including occasional payments to dead people – do exist, but that data suggests that they are rare.
“The Inspector General’s office that oversees the SSA reported in August the SSA made nearly $72 billion in improper payments between fiscal years 2015 and 2023 – which, while a large number, is still less than 1% of the total Social Security benefits paid during that period,” said Forbes.
While the Inspector General’s office has also said tens of millions of people over the age of 100 erroneously remain in the Social Security Administration’s database, the SSA has said it automatically terminates payments for people over 115. Furthermore, the administration announced Wednesday that it has made “significant progress in identifying and correcting beneficiary records of people 100 years old or older.”
“I thank President Trump for highlighting these inconsistencies during his speech last night to a joint session of Congress,” said Lee Dudek, Acting Commissioner of Social Security. “We are steadfast in our commitment to root out fraud, waste, and abuse in our programs, and actively correcting the inconsistencies with missing dates of death.”
One reason why it might seem like Social Security payments are being made to people older than 150 is a “quirk of the dated programming language used by the SSA’s computer systems,” Forbes explained. This quirk forces the system to default an American’s birth year to 1875 when their birth date is missing or incomplete, as Wired noted.
“The data reported in the media represent people who do not have a date of death associated with their record,” the SSA said Wednesday. “While these people may not be receiving benefits, it is important for the agency to maintain accurate and complete records.”
Last month, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Fox News that Trump directed Elon Musk to identify fraud within the SSA.
Musk – the multi-billionaire entrepreneur that Trump said is heading the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) – has previously made claims about fraud related to Social Security. Forbes said that “Musk has claimed without evidence the agency is a ‘Ponzi scheme’ – which has sparked an outcry over the system’s future even as Trump and Musk have vowed to leave people’s benefits alone.”
Overall, 73 million Americans receive Social Security benefits. Last April, Gallup polling indicated that 60% of American retirees rely on Social Security as a major source of income. In July 2023, Gallup polling also found that 61% of Americans would prefer that the U.S. raise taxes versus 31% who would prefer that the U.S. curb Social Security benefits to ensure the program’s long-term future. This January, AP-NORC polling found that 67% of people thought the U.S. is spending too little on Social Security.
Among the $105 billion in estimated savings DOGE claims to have created thus far, it lists the SSA in the eighth spot among the departments and agencies where the most savings have been found. Last week, the administration announced that it planned to “reduce the size of its bloated workforce,” by 7,000 employees.
Some people are worried about Musk and DOGE’s access to Social Security records. Nancy Altman, president of the left-leaning advocacy group Social Security Works, told The Washington Post the agency has private information for millions of Americans, said Forbes’ analysis. She said that data could be used to “punish enemies,” by possibly erasing their earnings record. Forbes said there is “currently no evidence of DOGE mishandling data.”
Forbes noted that neither Trump nor Musk have suggested that there will be cuts to the Social Security benefits that many Americans rely on. Musk has said that his goal in identifying fraud is to keep Social Security solvent.
“The entitlement program faces serious financial challenges that, if left unaddressed, could leave it unable to pay scheduled benefits in full starting in 2033,” said the Government Accountability Office last April.