Read more at source.
Read more at source.
Musk first hinted at the alleged fraud during an Oval Office press conference, suggesting that the Social Security system was being exploited by individuals aged 150. This claim quickly gained traction among right-wing commentators, particularly on Musk's own X platform, and was reported credibly by pro-Trump media outlets.
The 150-year-old claimants, experts argue, are not evidence of fraud but rather a result of the outdated COBOL programming language. This 60-year-old language, rarely used today, underpins the Social Security Administration's benefits system. Due to its lack of a date type, COBOL relies on a reference point system for dates, defaulting to May 20, 1875, when a birth date is missing or incomplete. This could explain the appearance of 150-year-old claimants.
Despite the plausible explanation provided by experts, Musk continues to assert his claim of fraud, recently sharing a screenshot of what he alleges are figures from the Social Security database showing individuals in each age bucket with the death field set to FALSE.
The anomaly Musk points to in the Social Security system is more likely a quirk of the outdated COBOL programming language than evidence of widespread fraud.
