Fraudsters Used Dead People’s Social Security Numbers for $29 Million in Wages

Identity thieves used the Social Security numbers of hundreds of dead individuals to earn nearly $30 million, according to a federal watchdog.

The Social Security Administration’s inspector general found over $200 million in questionable earnings over a five-year period that were earned using SSNs of people at least 85 years old or individuals who are deceased.

“Although SSA had controls in place to prevent and detect SSN misuse, we found individuals were using elderly individuals’ identities for work purposes,” the audit released Tuesday said. “Our review of a sample of 126 elderly individuals showed that 37 of their identities had been used to earn about $4.6 million during Tax Years (TY) 2009 to 2014.”

The administration was only aware of eight instances where SSNs of elderly individuals were being used to earn wages. The inspector general uncovered more than 800 dead persons’ SSNs that were stolen by others to attempt to work legally in the United States.

“In addition, we assessed wages reported after death using SSNs that had belonged to elderly individuals and found that 817 deceased elderly individuals’ identities were being misused for work purposes,” the inspector general said. “For [Tax Years] 2009 to 2014, someone other than the numberholders used their SSNs to earn about $29 million in wages.”

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