Shocking Claim: 40% of Calls Reportedly From Fraudsters Diverting Benefits

Tech billionaire Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team have thrust the U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) into the spotlight, alleging a staggering level of fraud within the agency’s operations. In a recent Fox News interview with Bret Baier, Musk and his team claimed that 40% of all phone calls received by the SSA are from fraudsters attempting to misdirect benefits, raising urgent questions about the security of a system that serves over 70 million Americans.

The revelation came during a wide-ranging discussion on Thursday evening, where Musk and seven DOGE team members outlined their efforts to root out waste and inefficiency across federal agencies. According to a DOGE engineer, the SSA receives daily calls from individuals posing as retirees, convincing operators to reroute direct deposit information to fraudulent accounts. “Almost half the calls they get are from fraudsters,” the engineer stated, with Musk adding, “They steal people’s Social Security. It’s happening all day, every day.”

Musk, appointed by President Donald Trump to lead DOGE—an unofficial task force aimed at slashing government spending—described the SSA’s vulnerabilities as a glaring example of systemic failure. “This is about protecting the benefits of honest Americans,” Musk said, emphasizing that their goal is to ensure the program remains solvent amid what he calls “extreme levels of fraud.”

The SSA distributes approximately $1.6 trillion in benefits annually, making it a cornerstone of federal spending and a prime target for DOGE’s efficiency crusade. But how big is the fraud problem really? The SSA’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) tracks improper payments—both fraud and errors—which totaled $71.8 billion from 2015 to 2022, less than 1% of the $8.6 trillion disbursed over that period. Most of these were overpayments due to unreported income changes, not fraud. By FY 2023, uncollected overpayments hit $23 billion, significant but not indicative of rampant scams. Fraud-specific losses are smaller: disability fraud is estimated at 1% of payments, with potential losses like $174 million flagged in 2020, and payments after death reached $298 million over two decades. Scams targeting beneficiaries, such as the 76,000 imposter reports costing $19 million in 2019, add to the tally, but annual improper payments, including fraud, historically hover around $3 billion—0.33% of 2016’s $900 billion payout.

Musk’s 40% claim likely refers to fraud attempts among reported incidents, not the SSA’s 80 million annual calls. If true, it’d suggest 32 million scam calls yearly, dwarfing documented evidence. The SSA has noted 40% of direct deposit fraud cases stem from phone-based attempts, a narrower issue prompting a March 2025 ban on such changes over the phone. Identity theft and synthetic fraud also play a role, with $742 million in earnings removed from records over four years, 59% tied to tax fraud. Still, experts argue the system’s scale magnifies small percentages into big dollars, not a crisis.

The controversy has intensified scrutiny on DOGE’s methods. A federal judge in Maryland recently blocked the team from accessing SSA systems containing sensitive data, citing privacy concerns and ordering the destruction of any non-anonymized information obtained. The ruling, issued on March 20, underscored the tension between DOGE’s aggressive anti-fraud push and legal safeguards protecting millions of Americans’ private information.

Despite the pushback, Musk remains defiant. “As a result of DOGE’s work, legitimate recipients will see improvements,” he told Baier, hinting at forthcoming measures to tighten security. Acting SSA Commissioner Leland Dudek has expressed cautious support but warned internally that cuts driven by “outsiders unfamiliar with SSA nuances” could disrupt services, according to sources.

Critics, including former SSA Commissioner Michael Astrue, call Musk’s assertions “flat-out wrong,” pointing to the agency’s reliance on decades-old COBOL code as a bigger issue than fraud. Democrats and advocacy groups like Social Security Works fear the claims are a pretext for dismantling a vital safety net. As the Senate prepares to vet Trump’s nominee for permanent SSA commissioner, Frank Bisignano, the clash between DOGE’s vision and the agency’s reality continues to unfold, testing the limits of reform—and the trust of millions who rely on Social Security.SSA imposter scamsgovernment efficiency initiatives