DOGE Uncovers Alleged $380 Million in Fraudulent Unemployment Claims, Including Payments to Babies and the Deceased

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk, has reported uncovering over $380 million in fraudulent unemployment insurance claims, with payments allegedly made to infants, deceased individuals, and even people not yet born. The findings, announced on April 10, 2025, have sparked widespread debate over the integrity of federal benefit systems.

According to DOGE’s initial survey of unemployment insurance claims since 2020, approximately 24,500 claims totaling $59 million were linked to individuals over 115 years old, an age group presumed deceased, as the oldest living American is 114. Additionally, 28,000 claims amounting to $254 million were attributed to children aged 1 to 5, and 9,700 claims worth $69 million were tied to individuals with birth dates 15 years in the future, including one case of a claimant supposedly born in 2154 receiving $41,000 (komonews.com, April 10, 2025).

Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer confirmed the findings, stating, “We have almost 25,000 people who are over 115 years old who are collecting $59 million that we have sent out,” during a briefing with President Donald Trump (komonews.com, April 10, 2025). DOGE further noted that states like California, New York, and Massachusetts accounted for the majority of these improper claims, totaling $305 million.

Elon Musk expressed disbelief on social media, writing, “This is so crazy that I had to read it several times before it sank in” (washingtonexaminer.com, April 10, 2025). He emphasized the lack of “sanity checks” for age discrepancies in the unemployment insurance system, suggesting systemic flaws allowed such claims to persist.

Some experts urge caution in interpreting the data. Attorney Madeline Summerville argued that the figures might be inflated due to data entry errors, such as default birth dates creating the appearance of widespread fraud. “These instances of waste, fraud, and abuse exist. They’re just highly inflated,” Summerville told TNND (komonews.com, April 10, 2025). The Department of Labor has not yet provided a formal response to DOGE’s claims, leaving questions about the extent of actual fraud versus administrative errors unanswered (san.com, April 10, 2025).

The report follows DOGE’s earlier assertions that millions of Social Security accounts belonged to deceased individuals, a claim the Social Security Administration partially rebutted, stating its system halts payments for those over 115 and acknowledging issues with unannotated death records (san.com, April 10, 2025).

As DOGE continues its mission to root out government waste, the unemployment fraud findings have intensified scrutiny of federal programs. Critics warn of potential privacy violations and overreach, citing concerns about DOGE’s access to sensitive data (npr.org, April 11, 2025). Meanwhile, supporters argue the discoveries highlight the need for reform to protect taxpayer dollars.

The Department of Labor has pledged to investigate and recover misallocated funds, but the path forward remains uncertain as analysts debate whether these claims reflect deliberate fraud or bureaucratic oversight. For now, the nation watches as DOGE’s audit raises more questions than answers about the state of America’s benefits systems. 17GEN4.com

Hypothetical Scenario: Intentional Manufacture of Fraudulent Unemployment Claims for Nefarious Purposes

Imagine a covert operation orchestrated by a small group of bad actors embedded within a federal agency responsible for administering unemployment insurance. These individuals, leveraging their access to sensitive systems and data, could intentionally manipulate the unemployment benefits framework to siphon funds for illicit purposes. Here’s how such a scheme might unfold:

System Access and Data Manipulation: The bad actors, perhaps mid-level bureaucrats or IT specialists with administrative privileges, exploit vulnerabilities in the unemployment insurance database. They could bypass or disable age verification protocols, allowing claims to be processed for individuals with implausible birth dates—such as infants, the deceased, or even future dates. By altering records or inserting fictitious identities, they create thousands of "ghost claimants." For instance, they might use stolen Social Security numbers from deceased individuals or generate synthetic identities, knowing these are unlikely to trigger immediate red flags due to lax oversight during high-volume claim periods, like the post-2020 economic recovery.

Creation of Shell Entities: To collect the funds, the conspirators set up a network of shell companies or fraudulent bank accounts tied to these ghost claimants. They might route payments to prepaid debit cards or obscure financial institutions with minimal scrutiny, possibly offshore. In this scenario, the $380 million in improper payments—such as the $59 million to those over 115 or $254 million to toddlers—could be funneled into accounts controlled by the bad actors or their accomplices. To avoid detection, they distribute the funds across numerous small transactions, each below thresholds that trigger automatic audits.

Nefarious Purposes: The siphoned money could serve multiple illicit goals. For example:

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   • Political Manipulation: The funds might finance off-the-books political operations, such as bribing officials, funding smear campaigns, or supporting extremist groups to destabilize rival factions. In a polarized climate, such resources could amplify disinformation efforts or sway local elections.

   
   

   • Personal Enrichment: The actors could pocket a portion of the funds, laundering them through cryptocurrencies or real estate purchases to obscure the trail. The scale of the fraud—$380 million—suggests significant personal gain for a small group.

   
   

   • Espionage or Foreign Influence: If aligned with foreign interests, the conspirators might divert funds to adversarial governments or proxy organizations, using the money to finance cyberattacks, intelligence operations, or propaganda within the U.S. The use of deceased or infant identities ensures deniability, as no real person would contest the claims.

   
   

   • Organized Crime: The funds could flow to criminal syndicates in exchange for favors, such as protection or influence over agency decisions. This could entrench corruption, allowing the bad actors to expand their scheme to other programs.

   
   

   Covering Tracks: To sustain the fraud, the perpetrators rely on bureaucratic inertia and outdated systems. They might intentionally understaff audit teams or manipulate reporting metrics to downplay discrepancies. For example, they could classify payments to 115-year-olds as "clerical errors" rather than fraud, delaying investigations. By embedding the fraud across multiple states—like California, New York, and Massachusetts, which accounted for $305 million—they dilute accountability, as fragmented oversight makes it harder to connect the dots. If suspicions arise, they might leak misleading data to media, framing the issue as systemic incompetence rather than deliberate sabotage.

Exploitation of Crisis: The bad actors could time their scheme to coincide with a national crisis, such as a pandemic or economic downturn, when unemployment claims surge and scrutiny is relaxed. In this scenario, the post-2020 unemployment spike provided cover, as overwhelmed agencies prioritized speed over accuracy. The conspirators might even lobby for policies that weaken verification, claiming it’s necessary to expedite aid, all while knowing it enables their fraud.

Plausible Outcomes and Detection Challenges: Over time, the scheme could net millions for illicit purposes, undermining public trust in government programs. Detection would be difficult because the fraud mimics common administrative errors—default birth dates, unverified SSNs, or outdated death records. Investigators might initially attribute the issue to sloppy record-keeping, as suggested by critics like Madeline Summerville in the real-world reports. Only a deep forensic audit, like the one conducted by DOGE in 2025, might uncover patterns suggesting intent, such as repeated payments to the same accounts or anomalies tied to specific agency insiders.

Why It’s Hypothetical: This scenario assumes deliberate malice and coordination, which would require overcoming significant logistical and ethical barriers. Real-world evidence points more toward systemic flaws—outdated technology, rushed pandemic-era processes, and poor data sharing—than a grand conspiracy. However, the scale of the reported fraud ($380 million) and the absurdity of payments to babies and the dead highlight vulnerabilities that could, in theory, be exploited by bad actors with sufficient access and motive.

This narrative illustrates how such a scheme could function, but it remains speculative, as no concrete evidence from the cited reports confirms intentional fraud by government insiders for these purposes. 17GEN4.com