Social security has not updated the death records of 6.5 million people . Only 13 of those millions of people are actually getting benefits . The other active numbers could be used to report wages , open bank accounts , obtain credit cards or claim fraudulent tax refunds . Allows a huge vulnerability for fraud , said Sen. Ron Johnson said . The IRS estimated it paid out more than $ 3 billion in fraudulent tax refunds in 2013 due to identity theft .
Social security has not updated the death records of 6.5 million people . Only 13 of those millions of people are actually getting benefits . The other active numbers could be used to report wages , open bank accounts , obtain credit cards or claim fraudulent tax refunds . Allows a huge vulnerability for fraud , said Sen. Ron Johnson said . The IRS estimated it paid out $ 5.8 billion in fraudulent tax refunds in 2013 due to identity theft .