This is How it Works

Unfortunately, Mrs. Smith dies at age 65+ in 1970, and the undertaker in charge of her funeral dutifully submits the text of her obituary to the newspapers she had indicated. It informs anyone and everyone that she has no living relatives.

Mr. Crook, who is currently in jail for fraud but due to our very accommodating prison system has access to a computer and high-speed internet, reads Mrs. Smith's obituary and seizes the opportunity. Using his devious methods, he manages to quickly submit a request to the SSA that will divert Mrs. Smith's Social Security check to one of his many bank accounts.

Our U.S. Social Security Administration—the department in charge of distribution—accepts a notice to redirect her check to the new bank account, while in another department that doesn't use the same computer network, a separate notice is received that Mrs. Smith is dead.

Since they are on different computer networks and no human is involved, nobody is aware that the Social Security Administration is sending the check to a dead woman.

Turns out Mr. Crook also died in 2021, but our Social Security Administration keeps paying Mrs. Smith, who by the way is now 120 years old.

DOGE found hundreds of thousands of fraudulent payments, but our outstanding Members of Congress and the Senate (both Republican and Democrat) and a bunch of unelected local judges seem to think that this is OK. Hell, it's not.

"Prove Me Wrong"