{"id":68693,"date":"2021-06-11T11:28:51","date_gmt":"2021-06-11T15:28:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=68693"},"modified":"2021-06-11T11:30:35","modified_gmt":"2021-06-11T15:30:35","slug":"this-highly-organized-theft-was-pre-planned-and-known-by-government-authorities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=68693","title":{"rendered":"This Highly Organized Theft Was Pre-Planned And Known by Government Officials"},"content":{"rendered":"

Half Of Pandemic Unemployment Funds May Have Been Stolen: Axios<\/h1>\n

ZeroHedge.com<\/p>\n

As much as\u00a0half\u00a0<\/strong>of the unemployment benefits paid by the US government over the past year may have been stolen through fraud, with the bulk ultimately ending up outside the country – likely into the hands of foreign crime syndicates in China, Nigeria, Russia and elsewhere, according to\u00a0Axios<\/em><\/a>‘ Felix Salmon.<\/p>\n

According to some estimates, unemployment fraud during the pandemic could ‘easily reach $400 billion,’ as states weren’t prepared for the\u00a0unprecedented wave<\/a>\u00a0of unemployment claims<\/p>\n

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Source: Bloomberg, April 09, 2020<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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States knew that fraud was inevitable, but opted to rush money out to people with minimal oversight, as opposed to laboriously vetting each application.<\/p>\n

According to Blake Hall, CEO of ID.me – a fraud prevention service, America has lost\u00a0over<\/em>\u00a0$400 billion to fraudulent claims, with as much as 50% of all unemployment payments possibly being stolen.<\/p>\n

Of that, up to 70% of the money stolen by impostors ultimately left the country<\/strong>\u00a0according to Haywood Talcove, CEO of LexisNexis Risk Solutions, who ways “These groups are definitely backed by the state.”<\/p>\n

The rest of the money was likely stolen by street gangs domestically, who have made up a greater share of the fraud in recent months.<\/p>\n

How it works:<\/strong>\u00a0Scammers often\u00a0steal personal information<\/a>\u00a0and use it to impersonate claimants. Other groups trick individuals into voluntarily handing over their personal information.<\/em><\/p>\n