Posted on 01/04/2021 2:47:11 PM PST by RightGeek
An astonishing $36 billion has been lost to fraud in pandemic unemployment benefits, the Department of Labor reports. To put this figure in context, the entire unemployment system only paid out about $26 billion in 2019.
That’s right: Bureaucrats lost to fraud more than is usually paid out in an entire year. The $36 billion lost—and that’s just the fraud we know about—amounts to an average of roughly $1,894 lost per current unemployment beneficiary. (What would we think of a private system that lost nearly $2,000 for each customer served?)
These figures alone are horrifying, but a new bombshell interview with one of the countless international scammers getting rich off our relief efforts makes it painfully clear just how carelessly Congress is throwing around our money.
A Nigerian student named Mayowa spoke to USA Today and, on the condition of partial anonymity, openly admitted to scamming $50,000 from the US pandemic welfare system so far.
All he had to do was make a list of real people and then search through available databases of hacked information for their Social Security numbers and birthdates.
“In most states that information is all it takes to file for unemployment,” USA Today’s Nick Penzenstadler says. ”Even when state applications require additional verification, a little more money spent on sites such as FamilyTreeNow and TruthFinder provides answers – your mother’s maiden name, where you were born, your high school mascot.”
It doesn’t always work, of course. But Mayowa told the newspaper his success rate is pretty high—about one success in every six claim attempts.
“Once we have that information, it’s over,” Mayowa told reporters. “It’s easy money.”
(Excerpt) Read more at fee.org ...
Congress gives away our grandchildren’s future.
Congress doe NOT love our grand children. They do love getting rich in the swamp. There is a reason why the area surrounding DC is the richest in country. The swamp is making an excellent living on the backs of ordinary hard working American workers.
I snicker when I hear they want Trump to make his tax return public. Why should I be interested in a Billionaire’s taxes when he sacrificed his good life to serve in public office for low pay for him? But I am interested in tax returns of politicians who became multi-millionaires during public service.
>$500,000,000 lost is WA State, and the bureaucrat in charge hasn’t recieved even a reprimand.
Of course the bureaucrat in charge is an Inslee campaign bundler, no experience whatsoever in management and she is not cooperating with the state auditor.
The entire unemployment/welfare system is designed to be taken adva tage of.
Democrats will never recognize it.
Great, so now when I get those notes from Nigeria saying
I’ve won big, I should reply?
Smile...
Not exactly. A handful of directors and deputy directors at CA state agencies have quietly “Retired” in late 2020.
It’s rare, but even grewsome nuisance can only hold his nose so long before the stench becomes too much to deal with.
Of course the replacements are just swampy finger puppets without any serious bonafides...
So expect more of the same from our benefit systems.
The nigerian fraudsters already have the bank accounts of dozens of willing accomplisses who think they are getting a cut of “African” millions by lending their bank account. The only thing they are doing is getting screwed scammed, and then prosecuted as an accompliss to bank fraud.
Ha! In CA we got you beat.
Benefit fraud is estimated at between $2-$10 Billion...and probably closer to $10 Bills.
It’s just mind blowing how much cash CA pushed out to fraudsters.
While generally true states issue the benefits, so ultimately are the ones allowing the benefit fraud, and states have limited staffing for benefit investigation, USDOL and USDOJ are the main investigators for big benefit fraudsters. States focus on mid and lower tier crooks.
Also, there are a lot of benefit claw backs, where people inflate their reported wages, only to end up having no proof or being discredited...
The collection actions, penalties and interest, can be devastating...once enacted, because it’s mostly automated, and the benefit recipient is mainly battling software.
So the individual might have felt good on the front end getting an extra couple thousand a month, that they didn’t deserve...but will end up getting wiped out in the claw back process...
It’s brutal.
In California there are no unemployment offices. They closed them all many years ago. It’s all done online. There’s always someone who can figure out how to scam the system.
same thing here now... I say bring back the waiting in line... very little fraud that way
Food Stamps are a second currency in America. They’re traded for half their face value in the ‘hood for drugs.
When I started as a street cop in public housing in the mid-90’s it was when there was still “script” or physical food stamps. We arrested corner boys often and it was usually a 50/50 mix of cash and script along with whatever crack they had left in their pants or in the bushes next to them.
The “convenience marts” in the area were all flush with stamps and it was common knowledge that they competed with one another to buy the stamps for cash at 50 cents on the dollar or better.
The transfer of the program to EBT cards changed things for the corner boys quite a bit, but the fraud at the marts was still widespread with a person able to purchase a small item and ring up 50 dollars and leave with 25 dollars cash in their pocket. However, from talking with friends who still work these areas it has gotten better since the inception of the program. There is still a lot of fraud, but it was wide open back when they had actual script.
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