There are over 6.5 million “people” with Social Security numbers over the age of 112, according to an audit by the Social Security Administration’s inspector general.
Findings by the Gerontology Research Group hold that there have been only 35 people known to reach the age of 112 in the world.
The audit report found that death dates had not been entered for these individuals into their electronic file, called Numident. The study found that the SSA was not properly equipped to “annotate death information on the Numident records of numberholders who exceeded maximum reasonable life expectancies and were likely deceased.”
The report says, ”We obtained Numident data that identified approximately 6.5 million numberholders born before June 16, 1901 who did not have a date of death on their record.”
A relatively small number of Social Security numbers were used in attempt to apply for work.
“During Calendar Years 2008 through 2011, SSA received 4,024 E-Verify inquiries using the SSNs of 3,873 numberholders born before June 16, 1901,” the report says. “These inquiries indicate individuals’ attempts to use the SSNs to apply for work.”
According to CNS News, Sen. Tom Carper, D-Delaware, a ranking member on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said:
“It is simply unacceptable that our nation’s database of Social Security numbers of supposedly living people includes more than six and a half million people who are older than 112 years of age, with a few thousand having birth dates from before the Civil War. Preventing agency errors by keeping track of who has died is a relatively simple problem that the government should pursue as a high priority.”
Source:http://national.suntimes.com