• DOGE has uncovered $382M in fraudulent unemployment claims, including payments to children under five and individuals over 115.
• Over 24,500 claimants listed as 115+ received $59M, while 28,000 toddlers fraudulently claimed $254M.
• Some applicants had future birthdates, including one “born in 2154,” who collected $41,000 in benefits.
• Elon Musk called the fraud “crazy,” citing a lack of basic verification checks by government agencies.
• AI-driven audits are now being used to uncover deeper fraud, with estimates suggesting up to $400B lost in pandemic-era waste.

In a revelation that has stunned taxpayers and lawmakers alike, the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has uncovered $382 million in fraudulent unemployment claims—including payments to children under five, individuals over 115 years old, and even “people” with birthdates set in the distant future. The findings, spearheaded by DOGE head Elon Musk, expose what critics are calling gross government incompetence under the previous administration—and it is likely just the tip of the wasteful-spending iceberg.

“So crazy that I had to read it several times”

The eye-popping report, released Wednesday, detailed three jaw-dropping statistics:

• 24,500 people listed as over 115 years old fraudulently claimed $59 million in benefits.
• 28,000 “applicants” between ages 1 and 5 received $254 million—despite toddlers being ineligible for employment, much less unemployment
• 9,700 claimants had birth dates more than 15 years in the future, including one applicant supposedly born in 2154, who pocketed $41,000

“Your tax dollars were going to pay fraudulent unemployment claims for fake people born in the future!” Musk tweeted, adding, “This is so crazy that I had to read it several times before it sank in.”

Republicans were quick to express outrage. Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer declared the administration’s commitment to recovering stolen funds, stating: “We will catch these thieves and keep working to root out egregious fraud — accountability is here.”

Mwanwhile, Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) blasted the findings as “reckless incompetence.” Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), a longtime advocate for fiscal accountability, quipped, “Of course toddlers and someone with a birthdate 129 years in the future are unemployed, but they definitely don’t qualify for unemployment benefits.”

A systemic failure of verification

The fraud points to a stunning absence of basic safeguards. Musk noted that “there was no sanity check for impossibly young or impossibly old people for unemployment insurance”—a lapse that allowed absurd claims to sail through unchecked.

Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY), who has pushed for legislation to claw back fraudulent COVID-era payments, warned that the $382 million figure may only scratch the surface. Estimates suggest up to $400 billion was stolen during the pandemic, much of it through unemployment fraud enabled by lax oversight.

The revelations also cast renewed scrutiny on the previous administration’s management. Julie Su, Biden’s acting labor secretary, previously faced criticism for presiding over $30 to $40 billion in fraudulent payouts in California’s unemployment system.

“Accountability is here”

The Trump administration has made rooting out waste and fraud a key priority, with DOGE axing 108 “wasteful” contracts in its first 100 days. Musk’s team is now deploying AI-driven audits to uncover further malfeasance across agencies—raising hopes that accountability, long absent, is finally arriving.

Yet for taxpayers footing the bill, the damage is already done.

“The oldest living American is 114 years old, so it is safe to say that anyone 115 or older is collecting ‘unemployment’ due to being dead. There was no sanity check for impossibly young or impossibly old people for unemployment insurance,” Musk added.

The tip of the iceberg?

While DOGE’s findings are shocking, many fear they’re merely the first wave of revelations. With AI-powered investigators now scrubbing federal databases, more fraud—and perhaps even bigger sums—could soon come to light.

Thankfully, the era of no-questions-asked spending is over. The real test will be whether the government learns from its mistakes or keeps writing checks to time-traveling toddlers.

 

Sources for this article include:

Modernity.news

FoxNews.com

NYPost.com