Elon Musk said he might have uncovered “the biggest fraud in history” when he found millions of people over age 100 listed in a Social Security database, but that’s not what’s going on.
On Sunday, Musk posted a chart on X allegedly showing more than 20 million people over 100 years old listed in “the Social Security database.”
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 🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/ltb06VX98Z
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 17, 2025
Musk joked about “vampires” scamming Social Security and claimed this could be “the biggest fraud in history.” However, experts argue he is misinterpreting government records.
The controversy began last week when Musk, standing beside former President Donald Trump in the Oval Office, spoke about “crazy things” he had discovered in the Social Security system. He claimed the database included records of individuals who were “150 years old.”
Later, the billionaire doubled down on social media, sharing what appeared to be government data and suggesting that “millions” of people were fraudulently listed as alive in the system.
“Maybe Twilight is real, and there are a lot of vampires collecting Social Security,” Musk quipped in one post, referencing the famous vampire saga.
Trump backed Musk’s claims during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, citing figures that supposedly supported the fraud allegations.
“The big thing is, how many of these people got paid? Where are they getting paid? If that’s the case, it’s a massive fraud,” Trump stated.
Why Musk is wrong about Social Security data
Despite Musk’s allegations, Social Security experts say he is misinterpreting the data. The Social Security Administration (SSA) manages multiple databases, and the one Musk appears to reference—called Numident—contains records of everyone who has ever had a Social Security number, not just those receiving benefits.
Kathleen Romig, director of Social Security and disability policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, dismissed Musk’s claims as absurd.
“When they’re throwing around numbers like tens of millions of dead people getting Social Security, well, there are only 67 million total recipients. What are they talking about? Half the people are actually dead? The numbers are so ridiculous. It’s not true,” Romig told ABC News.
Numident database
Numident includes many individuals who died long ago but lack an officially recorded date of death, particularly those from before electronic records were implemented. This issue has been acknowledged in government audits for years.
A 2023 inspector general report found nearly 19 million people born before 1920 still listed in the system without death records. However, this does not mean they are receiving benefits. The SSA has not prioritized updating this data since it does not impact actual Social Security payments.
According to SSA figures, only 0.1% of the 67 million Social Security recipients are over 100 years old. The agency also has safeguards to prevent deceased individuals from collecting benefits—payments automatically stop at age 115 unless the person actively uses Medicare or provides proof of life.
Real issue
While Musk and Trump suggest a massive fraud scandal, experts point out that the real issue is overpayments to living beneficiaries, not payments to the deceased.
A July 2024 inspector general report found that between 2015 and 2022, the SSA made $71.8 billion in improper payments. However, these errors—impacting roughly 1% of payments—were mostly due to administrative mistakes and eligibility miscalculations, not fraud.
