How would you manage to register 5 fake family members with the government? Governments already track its citizens in basically every country, it is really hard to trick them into thinking more people than that exists.
"Social Security records show that 6.5 million people in the US have reached the ripe old age of 112. In reality, only few could possibly be alive. As of last fall, there were only 42 people known to be that old in the entire world."
It's not just dead people.
"One Social Security number was used 613 times. An additional 194 numbers were used at least 50 times each."
Its more like not registering the departures of family members from this mortal coil, and is a persistent (if relatively small scale) problem with Social Security payments in the States.
Which, one again, circles to the point that the money, time, and effort spent on fighting such low level individual fraud typically vastly out-spends the actual fraud they're trying to combat.
There are special protections for illegal immigrants so it's reasonably easy to invent a family of them to collect benefits.
In addition, various US govts or even agencies within the same govt, often don't talk to one another.
So, when an old person dies, friends/family can keep collecting benefits.
See https://www.theguardian.com/money/2015/mar/16/social-securit...
"Social Security records show that 6.5 million people in the US have reached the ripe old age of 112. In reality, only few could possibly be alive. As of last fall, there were only 42 people known to be that old in the entire world."
It's not just dead people.
"One Social Security number was used 613 times. An additional 194 numbers were used at least 50 times each."