This is a strange find.
Elon Musk recently took to X (formerly Twitter) to raise concerns about alarming inconsistencies in the Social Security database. He revealed that millions of individuals are listed as centenarians (over 100 years old), with their death statuses marked as “FALSE,” suggesting they are still alive. Musk humorously posted, “Maybe Twilight is real and there are a lot of vampires collecting Social Security,” followed by laughter emojis, but the issue he highlighted is far from funny.
Musk shared a chart showing an astonishing number of people over the age of 100 in the system—more than 20 million, including over 3.9 million in the 130-139 age range, 3.5 million in the 140-149 range, and 1.3 million in the 150-159 range. These numbers raise serious questions about the accuracy of the Social Security system and the integrity of its database. For context, the U.S. Census Bureau recorded just over 80,000 people aged 100 or older in the 2020 census—far fewer than the millions listed by Social Security.
In addition to his observations, Musk criticized the complexity and lack of transparency within the Social Security system, calling the payment files between Social Security and the Treasury “significantly inconsistent” and “not reconciled.” He also pointed out the glaring discrepancy between the number of “eligible” Social Security numbers and the actual population of the United States. Musk even speculated that this could be the “biggest fraud in history.”
This troubling revelation comes at a time when President Donald Trump tapped Musk to head the Department of Government Efficiency, an initiative designed to root out waste, fraud, and abuse within the federal government. Musk’s findings only add fuel to the fire, urging a deeper investigation into how taxpayer dollars are being managed. With such glaring errors, the question remains: How much more is slipping through the cracks?