DOGE says fraudsters target Social Security’s phone support to steal benefits

Elon Musk and members of his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) discussed efforts by bad actors to defraud Social Security in an interview on Thursday.

Musk and several members of DOGE appeared on Fox News’ “Special Report with Bret Baier” and told host Bret Baier that a significant proportion of the daily calls that Social Security fields are from people trying to change legitimate recipients’ direct deposit destinations in an effort to steal their benefits.

“At Social Security, one of the first things that we learned is that they get phone calls every day of people trying to change direct deposit information,” said Aram Moghaddassi, DOGE engineer. “So when you want to change your bank account, you can call Social Security. We learned 40% of the calls that they get are from fraudsters.”

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Musk added that, “They steal people’s Social Security, is what happens. They call in, they claim to be a retiree and they convince the Social Security person on the phone to change where the money is flowing. It actually goes to some fraudster. This is happening all day, every day. And then somebody doesn’t receive their Social Security, it’s because of all the fraud loopholes in the Social Security system.”

Baier asked Musk about how some are concerned that DOGE’s efforts could inadvertently lead to legitimate Social Security recipients missing out on their benefit payments. The DOGE leader responded saying the group’s efforts will help ensure beneficiaries get the payments they deserve.

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“In fact, what we’re doing will help their benefits. Legitimate people, as a result of the work of DOGE, will receive more Social Security, not less,” Musk said. “I want to emphasize that: as a result of the work of DOGE, legitimate recipients of Social Security will receive more money, not less money.”

“I want to emphasize that point, and let the record show that I said this, and it will be proven out to be true,” he added.

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The Social Security Administration (SSA) said earlier this month that it’s changing its policies so that a caller can no longer answer identifying questions by telephone ahead of changing a direct deposit account because it’s “no longer enough to prevent fraud.”

SSA says that if a beneficiary needs to change their bank account information in the Social Security system, they will need to either use two-factor authentication with SSA’s “my Social Security” service, or visit a local Social Security office to prove their identity.

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Social Security’s primary trust funds are on pace to be depleted in about a decade, at which time beneficiaries would face automatic benefit cuts if no actions to reform the program are taken in the meantime.

While it’s unclear whether DOGE’s efforts will meaningfully delay that timeline, curbing fraud could help preserve some of those funds for longer relative to current trends.