How Unemployment Insurance Fraud Exploded During the Pandemic Bots filing bogus applications in bulk, teams of fraudsters in foreign countries making phony claims, online forums peddling how-to advice on identity theft: Inside the infrastructure of perhaps the largest fraud wave in history. https://www.propublica.org/article/how-unemployment-insurance-fraud-exploded-during-the-pandemic (Lengthy but good read with many details)
Endless fraud coming out of every portion of the Pandemic Business Loan program and Unemployment Benefits program. Florida woman listed as receiving $3.4M COVID grant she never applied for Holly Hill resident Amy Williams stunned her name is in federal database https://www.clickorlando.com/news/f...eiving-34m-covid-grant-she-never-applied-for/ A Florida gas station employee said she’s listed as receiving a $3.4 million COVID relief check that she never applied for and never received. Holly Hill resident Amy Williams said she's stunned that her name and an outdated address ended up in the federal database stating that she received millions in COVID Restaurant Revitalization Funds for a catering business. Williams never applied for the funds, never received any money and has never worked in the restaurant business. “I’m still processing it,” Williams said. Williams never applied for the funds, never received any money and has never worked in the restaurant business. Of the 31 Daytona Beach businesses that received the COVID relief funds, Williams is at the top, allegedly receiving the biggest check for a catering business she does not have, according to the Daytona Beach News-Journal. And she hasn’t lived at the address listed on the check for nearly eight years, she said. “I just don’t understand how a government agency could just release these funds without really doing any kind of investigation on the business,” Williams said. The next highest check in the area went to a beachside nightlife spot for nearly $560,000, the paper reported. Williams' husband works as a restaurant cook, but that's their only tie to the food industry. And that restaurant did not receive any relief funds either. “I don’t have any money,” said Williams. “I’d really love to know how this happened.” The 44-year-old had been unemployed for three years while battling breast cancer and recently started working at a gas station. She and her husband live with their three children in a modest apartment. U.S. Secret Service Special Agent in Charge Caroline O’Brien-Bruster told News 6 there are likely many victims of similar schemes, saying 1 in 5 Floridians are probably victims of some form of SBA loan fraud. “If someone took out a ($3.4 million loan) in her name, chances are some of her neighbors having loans taken out in their name are probably pretty high,” O’Brien-Bruster said. ’Brien-Bruster said Williams won’t have to pay the money back because she is a victim of identity theft. The U.S. Secret Service stresses anyone that discovers their identity has been used by SBA loan imposters needs to file a police report and check their credit report. “It doesn’t cost anything to see if there’s anything on there she has not applied for,” O’Brien-Bruster said. O’Brien-Bruster also shared the following tips: Visit the following site. This is the only authorized source for the free reports guaranteed by law. The three major credit bureaus — Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax — are offering free weekly online reports through April 2022, so you can keep a close eye on what’s in your credit report. File an identity theft report with your local Police Department of Sheriff’s Office. Lock your credit. Visit the following site. This is the only authorized source for the free reports guaranteed by law. The three major credit bureaus — Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax — are offering free weekly online reports through April 2022, so you can keep a close eye on what’s in your credit report The Small Business Administration declined comment on the mistaken check, saying its Office of Inspector General and the agency’s federal partners are working diligently to resolve fraud incidents.
Unemployment fraud during the pandemic was huge as scammers took advantage of the lack oversight. Fraudsters likely stole $45.6 billion from U.S. COVID unemployment insurance program https://www.reuters.com/world/us/fr...mployment-insurance-program-covid-2022-09-22/
'member when dems wanted time to review CARES to implement oversight safeguards and were belittled and outvoted by the GQP? Pepperidge farms remembers. Lack of oversight to grift and fraud was the feature, not the bug.