Social Security thinks elderly LI man is dead — and a fraud for saying he’s alive: ‘Suffering every day’

He’s dying to know what went wrong.

An elderly Long Island man says he has been unable to collect his Social Security benefits — because the federal agency agency thinks he’s both dead and a fraud at the same time in what has been a years-long ordeal.

“I am suffering because every day I say, ‘Why do I deserve what happens to me?’ ” said Wilfredo Pagan, 77, of Freeport to NBC 4.

“It’s a nightmare,” said Pagan, who runs a modest religious figurine and candle store in Far Rockaway. “I think they want to kill me.”

Pagan, who is in dire need of funds to handle an onslaught of medical bills from declining health, is formally listed as deceased by the government agency, the outlet reported.

Adding insult to injury, a worker for the administration thought his Social Security card was fake and confiscated it in Freeport when he first tried rectifying the overarching problem, he said.

He said at least one agency in the federal government recognizes him — he was able to get a passport this year with his Social Security number listed on it.

But Pagan said he still receives death notices and was told at one point that someone in the Dominican Republic might be getting his benefits.

Pagan said he has provided a birth certificate and other documentation to officials — and that the denials and accusations “hurts” him emotionally.

The apparently erroneous act also prohibits him from obtaining what could be thousands of dollars in total benefits over the years.

“They say, we’ll do an investigation, and we’ll call you. And — nothing,” said Pagan’s goddaughter, Deana Bain.

“They don’t come out and tell you anything any more because I don’t know if they realized, ‘Yeah, we kind of messed up,’” Bain said. “I am worried about him going to the hospital and they won’t take him because he owes so much.”

But Pagan isn’t giving up.

“I’m entitled to that money,” he said. “They don’t want to give it.”