The Social Security Administration is fighting back against Elon Musk’s claim that 10 million dead Americans are receiving Social Security checks, saying the agency’s data is “highly accurate.”

“Social Security announced … that more than three million deaths are reported to the Social Security Administration each year and explains that the agency’s records are highly accurate,” the Social Security Administration stated in a March news release.

“Of these millions of death reports received each year, less than one-third of 1 percent are erroneously reported deaths that need to be corrected.”

By the SSA’s numbers, 33,000 deaths are erroneously reported and need to be corrected each year, not the 10 million claimed by Musk and President Donald Trump, who use that figure to justify cutting waste and fraud from the government program.

According to a report by the SSA inspector general, 44,000 death entries were deleted from January 2004 through April 2007. About half of the entries were receiving a collective $17.2 million in monthly Social Security payments, the report found.

The $17.2 million figure pales in comparison to the tens of billions the White House claims can be cut from the agency due to waste, fraud and abuse.

Trump and Musk have also claimed tens of millions of dead people over age 100 are receiving Social Security payments.

While there may be people whose ages are recorded to be over 100 in the Social Security database, that does not mean they are being paid, according to the agency.

“The reported data are people in our records with a Social Security number who do not have a date of death associated with their record. These individuals are not necessarily receiving benefits,” Acting SSA Administrator Lee Dudek said in February, according to the Associated Press.

Part of the confusion comes from Social Security’s software system, which is based on the COBOL programming language and has a lack of date type. This means that some entries with missing or incomplete birthdates will default to a reference point of more than 150 years ago.

The SSA advised Americans what to do if an erroneous death is believed to have been reported.

“If a person suspects that they have been incorrectly listed as deceased on their Social Security record, they should contact their local Social Security office as soon as possible. They can locate their nearest Social Security office at www.ssa.gov/agency/contact/. They should be prepared to bring at least one piece of current (not expired) original form of identification. Social Security takes immediate action to correct its records and the agency can provide a letter that the error has been corrected that can be shared with other organizations, agencies, and employers.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.