Thousands of fake unemployment claims discovered

Thought they just had fake social security accounts? DOGE reported that they ran into fake unemployment claims. Approximately 24.5 thousand recipients, over the age of 115, claimed approximately $59 million in benefits. They were joined by folks from 1 through 5 years of age who claimed $254 million in benefits. But wait! There’s more! Another group of people, born over 15 years from now claimed $69 million in benefits. Someone born in the middle of the next century claimed $41,000 in benefits.

From Fox Business:

DOGE said that “24.5k people over 115 years old claimed $59M in benefits” while “28k people between 1 and 5 years old claimed $254 million in benefits” and “9.7k people with birth dates over 15 years in the future claimed $69M in benefits.” It added, “In one case, someone with a birthday in 2154 claimed $41k.”

The Labor Department confirmed that millions of dollars in unemployment insurance went to fraudulent recipients identified by DOGE.

“This is another incredible discovery by the DOGE team, finding nearly $400 million in fraudulent unemployment payments,” Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer told FOX Business. “The Labor Department is committed to recovering Americans’ stolen tax dollars. We will catch these thieves and keep working to root out egregious fraud — accountability is here.”

DOGE has conducted similar efforts in Social Security to root out numberholders from databases who are listed as age 120 or older.

The group said it has marked 9.9 million Social Security numberholders listed as age 120 or older as deceased, with about 2 million to go as of late March.

Additional Reading:

Revell, E. (2025, April 10). DOGE finds thousands of fake unemployment claims. Fox Business. Link.

Category: DOGE, Government Incompetence, Society