Unemployment fraud during the pandemic has reportedly funneled billions to foreign crime syndicates

Your COVID-19 unemployment check may have ended up overseas — and not because you bought too many shirts from Zara during lockdown.

A Thursday report from Axios estimates up to $400 billion in unemployment fraud during the pandemic, with the "bulk of the money likely [ending] in the hands of foreign crime syndicates." Some, however, are understandably skeptical of the numbers.

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Brigid Kennedy

Brigid Kennedy worked at The Week from 2021 to 2023 as a staff writer, junior editor and then story editor, with an interest in U.S. politics, the economy and the music industry.