Paulino, a Gaithersburg resident, attempted to renew his license through the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA), but received a text message informing him that his identification had been rejected because, according to state records, he is no longer alive. .
Paulino, the mother of three children, told NBC 4 that after reading this message, I felt a little scared, and I was shocked because I am here. Paulino then received a letter from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) declaring him a ‘deceased taxpayer’.
Big problem due to government mistake
When the local TV station questioned various government agencies, the Social Security Administration (SSA) admitted that the mistake was a typo, NBC 4 reported.
Dead turned alive due to wrongly typing a social security number
The SSA revealed that a funeral home had made a typo while reporting someone else’s death. The employee entered one digit incorrectly in the Social Security Number. Due to this mistake, Paulino was declared dead.
It took two months to prove myself alive.
Paulino came to know about this problem in November 2024, but it took till January 14, 2025 for the government to declare him ‘alive’. The mistake had a deep impact on Paulino’s life. Due to the suspension of his health insurance coverage, he had to face a lot of financial trouble in purchasing an inhaler for his asthma.
bad impact on life
Paulino told that this has had a very bad impact on my life. My health and mental state have also been deeply affected. SSA said in its statement that their records are very accurate. However, NBC 4 reports that out of the millions of death reports the SSA receives each year, 0.3% are inaccuracies, which is equivalent to about 10,000 false reports.
Such incidents have happened before also
Paulino’s incident is not unique. Madeleine-Michelle Carthen of St. Louis, Missouri, was wrongly declared dead in 2007, and the problem persisted for nearly two decades. Carthen said that because of this mistake she was neither able to complete college, nor get a permanent job, nor buy her own house. This mistake stops my life at every step. Sometimes I get a job, but within a few months problems arise. Karthen continued to struggle to solve his problem till 2023.
Need for improvement in government system
Such incidents show that even a small mistake in the government system can completely affect someone’s life. Incidents like Paulino and Karthen indicate that further improvements are needed in the system so that such problems do not recur.