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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Once-"rare" unemployment claims weren't typically regarded by crime syndicates as worthwhile — but as the pandemic progressed and jobless claims hit unprecedented levels last April, unemployment "became where the big money was." Now, Axios reports, fraud service is offered on the dark web, most frequently targeting the states lacking the ability to detect it.
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) said the state uncovered a "massive criminal enterprise involving fraudulent unemployment claims" last year. He added that over "90 percent of claims flagged in Maryland" are later labeled as fraudulent.
Skeptics, however, have otherwise flagged a lack of evidence to support Axios' "huge claim," especially as the story's main source — Blake Hall — has a stake in the anti-fraud business.
Despite a muddled consensus as to exact scope, this is "not the first reported instance of stimulus money ending up in the wrong hands," Insider reports, and, if anything, just underscores the need for robust fraud detection services nationwide. The White House indicated unemployment fraud is "one of the most serious challenges" it's dealing with.
Read the full report at Axios.
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