Oddly the more I am considering this, it is hardly despicable.
With all those who currently abuse the welfare systems we have in place, do we not often desire some sort of repayment?
What is concerning though is the lack of due process. And how it appears to be a slap-shod way of contacting the debtors. (Using the old addresses?)
The other item that comes to mind for THIS generation is what if that old SS# is being used to commit identity theft to collect undeserved benefits? Can you imagine losing your entire home because some illegal alien collected benefits on your parent’s SS#?
The stories presented appear to have some sort of legit basis, but I suspect in time if the Treasury continues to pursue these matters without due process and due diligence, this could become a real boondoggle.
My real heartburn stems from the shift to “guilty until proven innocent” and this comment in the story:
“But many other taxpayers whose refunds have been taken say they’ve been unable to contest the confiscations because . . . Social Security cannot provide records detailing the original overpayment . . . “
If you think this mechanism will ever, EVER be used to combat welfare or EBT or EITC fraud, I have a bridge to sell you. It is simply another tool in the toolbox for the government to subjugate actual working people. “There’s no way to rule honest men...”