Say the words - "Four hundred BILLION". Not million but BILLION. And think about what a staggering sum this is.
This theft highlights the issues with unemployment fund distribution in the U.S. Half the money distributed was stolen and ended up in the hands of international crime syndicates in places such China, Nigeria, Russia and elsewhere. I want to know what politicians are going to do to fix this problem so it does not happen again. There should be bipartisan support for stopping wholesale theft of relief meant to help the unemployed.
Half of the pandemic's unemployment money may have been stolen
https://www.axios.com/pandemic-unem...len-a937ad9d-0973-4aad-814f-4ca47b72f67f.html
Criminals may have stolen as much as half of the unemployment benefits the U.S. has been pumping out over the past year, some experts say.
Why it matters: Unemployment fraud during the pandemic could easily reach $400 billion, according to some estimates, and the bulk of the money likely ended in the hands of foreign crime syndicates — making this not just theft, but a matter of national security.
Catch up quick: When the pandemic hit, states weren't prepared for the unprecedented wave of unemployment claims they were about to face.
This theft highlights the issues with unemployment fund distribution in the U.S. Half the money distributed was stolen and ended up in the hands of international crime syndicates in places such China, Nigeria, Russia and elsewhere. I want to know what politicians are going to do to fix this problem so it does not happen again. There should be bipartisan support for stopping wholesale theft of relief meant to help the unemployed.
Half of the pandemic's unemployment money may have been stolen
https://www.axios.com/pandemic-unem...len-a937ad9d-0973-4aad-814f-4ca47b72f67f.html
Criminals may have stolen as much as half of the unemployment benefits the U.S. has been pumping out over the past year, some experts say.
Why it matters: Unemployment fraud during the pandemic could easily reach $400 billion, according to some estimates, and the bulk of the money likely ended in the hands of foreign crime syndicates — making this not just theft, but a matter of national security.
Catch up quick: When the pandemic hit, states weren't prepared for the unprecedented wave of unemployment claims they were about to face.
- They all knew fraud was inevitable, but decided getting the money out to people who desperately needed it was more important than laboriously making sure all of them were genuine.
- Haywood Talcove, the CEO of LexisNexis Risk Solutions, estimates that at least 70% of the money stolen by impostors ultimately left the country, much of it ending up in the hands of criminal syndicates in China, Nigeria, Russia and elsewhere.
- "These groups are definitely backed by the state," Talcove tells Axios.
- Much of the rest of the money was stolen by street gangs domestically, who have made up a greater share of the fraudsters in recent months.
- "President Biden has been clear that this type of activity from criminal syndicates is despicable and unacceptable. It is why we passed $2 billion for UI modernizations in the American Rescue Plan, instituted a Department of Justice Anti-Fraud Task Force and an all-of-government Identity Theft and Public Benefits Initiative.”
- "Mules" — low-level criminals — are given debit cards and asked to withdraw money from ATMs. That money then gets transferred abroad, often via bitcoin.
- After unemployment insurance became the primary vehicle by which the U.S. government tried to keep the economy afloat, however, all that changed.
- Unemployment became where the big money was — and was also being run by bureaucrats who weren't as quick to crack down on criminals as private companies normally are.
- Unemployment fraud is now offered on the dark web on a software-as-a-service basis, much like ransomware. States without fraud-detection services are naturally targeted the most.
