One person who died in March 2020 was found to be receiving payments as of July 2025.
About $33 million in Social Security benefit payments were issued to dead people in New York state, the Social Security Administration’s (SSA’s) Office of Inspector General (OIG) said in a Sept. 16 memorandum.
In its analysis, the OIG reviewed data on roughly 1.5 million individuals recorded as deceased between January 2008 and December 2023 in New York state, excluding New York City. That information was then compared with the SSA’s payment records and the Enumeration Verification System.
OIG identified 829 dead beneficiaries from the New York state data who were in “current or suspended payment status” as of July 2025, according to the memo.
“We estimate SSA issued these beneficiaries approximately $33 million in payments after their deaths,” the OIG said in the memo. “Identifying and correcting these discrepancies would prevent approximately $8 million in additional payments after death over 12 months.”
In one case, SSA was found to have paid roughly $167,392 to a retirement beneficiary who died in March 2020. The agency’s records did not contain the individual’s date of death, the memo said, adding that the beneficiary was still in current pay as of July.
In another case, SSA issued around $84,691 in the name of a disability beneficiary who died in November 2019. The payments were only suspended in June last year, the OIG said.
According to the memo, once OIG completes the analysis of all 829 cases, it will refer them to the SSA for review.
“SSA’s review would involve obtaining a death certificate or a statement from a funeral director or obtaining a death report from a relative of the decedent,” OIG said in the memo. “If SSA confirms the beneficiary is deceased, it should terminate benefits and initiate recovery of improper payments.”
