The truth behind what Elon Musk said about there being 150-year-old people collecting their insurance in the United States
The billionaire claims to have discovered a massive case of corruption in the US Social Security system, but experts deny his version and point to a computer system failure as the cause of the error.
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Elon Musk has stirred up controversy again with his statements. This time, the South African magnate claimed that his project, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE, for its initials in English), had uncovered massive fraud in the United States Social Security.
According to Musk, there are people up to 150 years old receiving benefits. However, shortly after being revealed, these claims were refuted by experts in technology and government administration.
Musk first mentioned this alleged fraud at a press conference in the Oval Office, stating that after a "superficial examination" of Social Security records, he had found people of 150 years old receiving payments: "Do you know anyone who is 150 years old? I don't. They should be in the Guinness World Records," the billionaire joked.
However, computer programmers quickly rushed to explain that the age of 150 years is not indicative of fraud, but the result of a peculiarity of the computing system used by the Social Security Administration (SSA).
These systems, based on COBOL, a more than 60-year-old programming language, use a default reference point when a birth date is missing or incomplete.
False information
The SSA's own website specifies that since 2015, payments automatically stop for any beneficiary who reaches 115 years old. However, Musk insisted on his theory on social media, posting a screenshot with figures supposedly extracted from the Social Security database, which claimed that over 10 million people over 120 years old were receiving payments.
"Maybe Twilight is real and there are many vampires collecting Social Security," Musk wrote on X, his own platform.
However, experts have pointed out that the database Musk refers to contains around 400 million records, a completely disproportionate number compared to the approximately 70 million people who will receive benefits in 2024.
The presence of millions of entries of deceased individuals in these systems is a known and documented problem by the SSA inspector general, who in 2023 stated that 98% of registered individuals aged 100 or older do not receive any type of benefit.
Doubts about DOGE management
DOGE's access to government databases raises serious concerns about the privacy and security of personal information of millions of citizens.
Musk claims that his DOGE initiative has already uncovered billions in corruption and wasteful spending, but so far, has not provided verifiable evidence. He promised that all savings generated would be published on the project's website, but so far, the page has only shown a recycled feed of X and lacks any details about the alleged savings.
The silence of DOGE and the White House amid requests for comments only raises doubts about the veracity of Musk's claims, who once again seems to be playing with controversy to stay at the center of public debate.
*This article has been automatically translated using artificial intelligence
