Cash for Corpses

The American public is being robbed blind, and no one seems to care. Billions of dollars are disappearing right under our noses, funneled through a broken system that was supposed to protect the most vulnerable among us. Social Security—the cornerstone of American retirement, the safety net for the disabled and the elderly—is hemorrhaging money at an astronomical rate, and the reason is as sinister as it is simple: fraud.

We’re not talking about minor accounting errors or bureaucratic red tape. We’re talking about a system so poorly managed, so incompetently designed, that dead people are “receiving” Social Security checks. Yes, you read that right. Dead people. Checks keep rolling in, direct deposits keep getting made, and nobody bothers to ask how a 147-year-old managed to cash a check.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) is supposed to be vigilant about stopping payments upon death, but the truth is they aren’t even close. In 2018, an audit found that 6.5 million active Social Security numbers belonged to people over 112 years old, despite fewer than 100 verified centenarians existing globally. Let that sink in for a second. We’re not just talking about a handful of outliers—millions of Social Security numbers are floating around, attached to people who should have died decades ago. And the checks keep coming, month after month, year after year.

How is this happening? The answer is as archaic as it is absurd: outdated systems and pure governmental incompetence. The SSA’s systems are built on COBOL, a programming language so ancient that the people who wrote it are, ironically, likely recipients of these fraudulent checks. These systems don’t cross-check death records properly, don’t validate ages, and don’t even stop payments at the age of 115—like they’re supposed to. If a death isn’t reported or entered into the system, the checks keep coming. It’s the perfect crime, and the criminals know it.

Who’s cashing these checks? Sometimes it’s the families of the deceased, either out of financial desperation or sheer greed. They keep their mouths shut, keep the death a secret, and enjoy the free flow of government money. A woman in California did this for 48 years, collecting over $500,000 in Social Security benefits intended for her deceased father before finally getting caught. And she’s just one of countless examples.

But it doesn’t stop there. Identity thieves are cashing in, too. They steal Social Security numbers from the dead, especially from people who died recently or who don’t have close relatives to report the death. These stolen identities are gold mines, giving criminals access to benefits, tax refunds, and even credit cards. And the SSA is so far behind on cybersecurity that they might as well be handing out the keys to the vault.

Then there are the synthetic identities—criminal masterminds who combine real SSNs (often from dead people) with fake names, addresses, and birthdates. They create a completely new identity that passes most verification checks because the SSA systems are so laughably outdated. With these synthetic identities, they open bank accounts, file for benefits, and even take out loans. And when the bills come due, they disappear into the wind, leaving the American taxpayer to foot the bill.

But let’s not dance around the elephant in the room: undocumented immigrants are exploiting this broken system, too. For decades, undocumented migrants have been using stolen or fake Social Security numbers to get jobs, pay taxes, and receive benefits. Some buy these numbers on the black market; others get them at swap meets—informal marketplaces where you can buy fake IDs, birth certificates, and yes, Social Security numbers. These swap meets are hubs of criminal activity, selling the documents necessary to live and work in the U.S. illegally. And before someone tries to label this as xenophobic, let’s get one thing straight: pointing out the reality of fraud isn’t hate—it’s honesty.

This isn’t just an immigration issue or a dead people issue. It’s a systemic failure. It’s a national security threat. It’s a complete breakdown of governmental accountability. And it’s costing us billions. In 2021 alone, improper payments from federal benefit programs totaled $281 billion. That’s money that could have gone to infrastructure, education, or paying down the national debt. Instead, it went to criminals, scammers, and people who don’t even exist.

So why isn’t this headline news? Why isn’t Congress up in arms about this colossal waste of taxpayer money? Because no one wants to admit how broken the system really is. No one wants to take responsibility. It’s easier to blame the other party, to shout about social issues, and to keep the American public distracted than to face the ugly truth: the Social Security Administration is a leaking ship, and no one is even trying to patch the holes.

The answer isn’t more bureaucracy. It isn’t another government task force that will waste even more money. The answer is a complete overhaul of the SSA’s systems, real accountability, and harsh penalties for fraud. We need modern data validation, real-time cross-checking with death records, and cybersecurity measures that aren’t stuck in the 1980s. We need a government that actually cares about safeguarding taxpayer dollars instead of blindly issuing checks.

And maybe, just maybe, we need to admit that the system is so broken that it might be time to tear it down and start over. Because as long as the checks keep rolling in, the fraudsters will keep cashing them. And the American people will keep paying the price.