Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., has introduced bipartisan legislation aimed at protecting seniors from dating app scams. Meanwhile, Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is tackling fraud in Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.
DOGE’s effort to clean Social Security records
On Monday, DOGE announced that it has been actively working to clean up millions of outdated records in the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) databases. As part of this initiative, individuals listed as over the age of 120 have been marked as deceased.
“For the past two weeks, @SocialSecurity has begun a major cleanup of their records,” DOGE stated in a post on X. “Approximately 3.2 million numberholders, all listed age 120+, have now been marked as deceased. More work still to be done.”
As of March 8, the Social Security database still contained more than 12.3 million numberholders listed as being 120 years or older. This included over 1.3 million records of individuals purportedly between the ages of 150 and 159. However, DOGE did not specify whether these individuals were actually receiving benefits, a concern previously raised by Elon Musk.
SSA responds to concerns about fraudulent records
Elon Musk recently highlighted the issue of extremely old numberholders in the Social Security system. “There are a whole bunch of Social Security payments where there’s no identifying information, like, why is there no identifying information?” he questioned.
In response, Acting Social Security Commissioner Lee Dudek clarified, “The reported data are people in our records with a Social Security number who do not have a date of death associated with their record. These individuals are not necessarily receiving benefits.”
The SSA issued a statement addressing the issue, noting that while the agency processes millions of death reports annually, “less than one-third of 1 percent are erroneously reported deaths that need to be corrected.” The agency acknowledged that such errors could cause significant hardship for those affected.
“Instances when a person is erroneously reported as deceased to Social Security can be devastating to the individual, spouse, and dependent children,” SSA stated. “Benefits are stopped in the short term, causing financial hardship until fixed and restored. The process to prove an erroneous death will always seem too long and challenging.”
Real-life impact of Social Security errors
The Seattle Times recently reported the case of 82-year-old Ned Johnson from Seattle, who was mistakenly marked as deceased in February. Johnson described the experience as “truly surreal,” noting that SSA had already withdrawn benefit payments from his account.
His attempts to correct the mistake over the phone were unsuccessful for two weeks. Eventually, he secured an appointment for late March. Frustrated by the delay, Johnson visited a Social Security office in downtown Seattle, where, after waiting for several hours, employees were able to verify that he was alive and correct the records.
Steps to resolve mistaken death reports
The SSA has provided guidance for individuals who have been incorrectly marked as deceased. Those affected should visit their local Social Security office as soon as possible with a current, original form of identification.
“Social Security takes immediate action to correct its records,” the agency stated. “The agency can provide a letter confirming that the error has been fixed, which can be shared with other organizations, agencies, and employers.”
