&Quot;Social Security&Quot;

Will Social Security run out of money for payouts to be made starting June 1, 2025? No, that's not true: This claim was made on social media without basis: no official document cited, no link to expert analysis, no financial records, just a naked assertion. The Social Security Trust Fund, from which benefits are paid, was solvent on the day…

Does the conservative "Project 2025" initiative to reshape the U.S. government call for a ban on abortion and contraceptives, increased retirement age, cuts in Social Security and Medicare benefits, plus elimination of overtime pay and of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration? No, that's not true: Lead Stories found these claims, posted on Facebook, to be false by reviewing the…

Did Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's wife, Olena Zelenska, buy a Bugatti sports car for almost 4.5 million euros in June 2024? No, that's not true: The invoice supposedly proving the claim contained multiple errors. Both Bugatti and Bugatti's Paris-based dealership denied the authenticity of the document shared online and a video supposedly showing a Bugatti employee confirming the claim appears…

Do photos circulating on social media show a catalytic-converter thief caught in the act in Saint Joseph, Missouri? No, that's not true: These photos were taken in Oldham, on the outskirts of Manchester, England. A Facebook account that tries to recover stolen vehicles in the United Kingdom first posted the photos in 2020 to identify people allegedly stealing catalytic converters…

Did 2 million voters register without a photo ID in Arizona, Pennsylvania and Texas during the first three months of 2024? No, that's not true: Election officials from these three states told Lead Stories that this figure from a social media post does not represent the number of new voters actually registered in their states without a photo ID during…

Did President Joe Biden sign an executive order terminating Social Security benefits and Supplemental Security Income and banning side jobs in June 2024? No, that's not true: The White House released no such order. A post making the claim about this supposed order did not provide any supporting evidence; it included unrelated footage from a 2021 speech that Biden gave…

Do undocumented immigrants in the United States not pay taxes? No, that's not true: The claim made by Elon Musk on X that "illegals in America" do not pay taxes is "absolutely false," the deputy director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a nonpartisan think tank, told Lead Stories. "Undocumented immigrants pay a range of taxes at every…

Does the state of North Carolina have an "affordable supplemental death benefit program" that will pay up to $40,000 to cover final expenses as is claimed in an ad posted on Facebook? No, that's not true: No such statewide benefit program exists. This misleading ad is intended to generate leads to sell life insurance for final expenses. There is no…

Did the combined net worth of President Joe Biden and his Vice President Kamala Harris reach $69 million in 2022, or $41 million and $28 million respectively? No, that's not true: Posts on social media inflated the financial status of both families without providing any rationale for such statements. Compared to an average American, both Biden and Harris are more…

Will T-Mobile start fining individual customers in 2024 for sending texts or posting content the company doesn't agree with? No, that's not true: The claim on social media misrepresented the nature of the change that will only affect the third-party vendors sending out automated messages. T-Mobile told Lead Stories that the company doesn't "censor" personal texts. The story appeared in…