How have past misinformation campaigns affected beneficiaries' trust and access to Social Security services?
Executive summary
Misinformation and scams around Social Security have eroded trust and, in documented cases, reduced access and caused financial harm: government impersonation scams cost Americans at least $577 million as of November 2024 and scammers have defrauded vulnerable people of over $2.3 billion since 2020, according to reporting collated by consumer-protection trackers [1] [2]. Public confusion has also produced policy misperception and fear—viral claims about benefit cuts, phantom stimulus checks, and mass data errors prompted official fact-checks and targeted SSA countermeasures [3] [2] [4] [5].
1. How scams translated into lost benefits and direct financial harm
Telephone and impersonation schemes have directly taken money and disrupted payments. The Office of the Inspector General reported government-impersonation scams netted roughly $577 million through November 2024; independent trackers cite over $2.3 billion stolen from vulnerable people since 2020 [1] [2]. Victims describe changed direct-deposit accounts and months-long outages in benefits, showing misinformation tactics can have immediate, material effects on beneficiaries’ access to funds [5] [2].
2. Fear and confusion that reduced trust in the agency
False claims about benefit eliminations or sudden $600–$2,000 “stimulus” payments sowed alarm and mistrust. Viral posts claiming Project 2025 would “totally eliminate” Social Security were debunked by PolitiFact, but the circulation of those posts nonetheless heightened beneficiary anxiety about program survival [3]. Similarly, attention-grabbing but false announcements of new SSI/SSDI stimulus payments in 2025 required fact-checking to counteract panic and unrealistic expectations [2].
3. Administrative consequences: extra workload, outreach, and policy blowback
Misinformation forces the Social Security Administration into costly public-education and anti-scam campaigns. SSA launched a PSA campaign in 2025 to counter a nationwide telephone impersonation scheme, an explicit admission that misinformation requires institutional resources and outreach to restore trust [5]. FactCheck.org and other outlets have spent reporting and analysis capacity rebutting misread data and misleading political attacks—work that draws staff time away from core service delivery [6] [4].
4. Data-risk narratives that enable broader disinformation operations
Allegations of internal data mishandling and leaks escalate risks beyond direct fraud by enabling targeted misinformation and identity-theft campaigns. A whistleblower complaint about an alleged upload of Social Security data to an unsecured server warned that bad actors could use that material for identity theft, targeted surveillance and misinformation campaigns—linking data-security incidents to trust erosion in services [7]. Independent analysts also highlight persistent disinformation pressure on social stability and institutions, reinforcing how misinformation about Social Security fits into broader attacks on public trust [8].
5. Policy debate and political weaponization of misinformation
Misinformation about Social Security has become a political tool. FactCheck.org flagged misleading framing of SSA changes tied to staffing and field-office closures; news outlets reported partisan accusations over emails and political messaging that the agency or administrations used to push contested narratives [6] [9]. Brookings and other analysts warn that disinformation about Social Security not only misleads the public but “risks the program’s future and undermines trust in government services,” indicating a strategic incentive for actors who benefit from public confusion [10].
6. Who is harmed and how remedies fall short
Older adults, low-income beneficiaries and people with disabilities are disproportionately targeted and harmed. Scam statistics and victim stories emphasize that those dependent on predictable monthly income face immediate hardship when payments are delayed or diverted [1] [5]. SSA regulatory provisions acknowledge that misinformation can cause people not to file for benefits and include mechanisms like “deemed filing dates” to remedy some administrative losses, but available sources do not indicate these remedies fully offset the broader trust and access harms caused by systemic misinformation [11].
7. Competing perspectives and limits of current reporting
Sources agree misinformation causes tangible harm, but they differ on scale and drivers. Consumer-tracking pieces quantify billions stolen since 2020 [2], inspector-general summaries give lower, specific loss figures through 2024 [1], and think tanks emphasize systemic risk to program legitimacy [10]. Available sources do not provide comprehensive, longitudinal studies showing exactly how many eligible people failed to apply because of misinformation; SSA rules note that misinformation can delay filings and offer procedural fixes, but national-level estimates of foregone claims are not found in current reporting [11].
8. What to watch next
Watch for continued SSA anti-scam outreach and for shifts in political messaging tied to budget debates; the agency’s PSA campaign and repeated fact-checks indicate an ongoing institutional response [5] [2]. Monitor investigative reporting about alleged data-security incidents and their aftermath—those narratives are the linchpin linking identity risk to targeted misinformation operations [7] [8].