$100B Stolen in Pandemic Relief Funds

The Secret Service estimates more than $100 billion has been stolen from pandemic relief funds. Often done by using a person's SSN or supporting information, people have been using Halloween masks and Barbie dolls to claim funds.

Nearly $100 billion at minimum has been stolen from Covid relief programs set up to help businesses and people who lost their jobs due to the pandemic, the Secret Service said Tuesday.

The estimate is based on Secret Service cases and data from the Labor Department and the Small Business Administration, said Roy Dotson, the agency’s national

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recovery coordinator, in an interview. The Secret Service didn’t include Covid fraud cases prosecuted by the Justice Department.

While roughly 3 percent of the $3.4 trillion dispersed, the amount

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benefits programs shows “the sheer size of the pot is enticing to the criminals,” Dotson said.

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One thing that doesn't appear to have been discussed: How is it this easy for the criminals to do? I am a little confused.

Unfortunately, many people have taken advantage of the pandemic for personal gain.

Something to this effect Is disgraceful.

(12-23-2021, 02:01 AM)Jiggly Wrote:

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One thing that doesn't appear to have been discussed: How is it this easy for the criminals to do? I am a little confused.

I'll simplify this for those reading that article wondering, "wait, how did that even happen?"

The criminals used fraudulent RDPs and legitimate SSN's along with other tools to fake unemployment claims and those forms were literally just "who are you, how long have you been off work, and how did you lose your job". This led to the substantial increase in fraudulent cases filed with UIA. They are basically not possible to traceback & were hard to fix because in most cases the automatic system in place for COVID funds toward relief were so quick to give funds to self-employed, they can't keep up with the case investigations across all the states.

There's a method still being used today that pretty much automates payment delivery to unemployment programs. And you can still exploit the system with basic knowledge of proxying and RDP or a VPN in the same state as the victim. You can also bet there were scammers taking advantage of the elderly and unaware. Things like call centers weren't uncommon during the beginning of the pandemic. They'd call and pretend to be from the unemployment office and pretend to help someone setup relief funds (usually awarded by mail and by direct deposit) but they'd gain access to screens and change the bank details to the scam account. It's pretty basic and very shitty and immoral.

(12-27-2021, 08:02 PM)vittring Wrote:

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(12-23-2021, 02:01 AM)Jiggly Wrote:

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One thing that doesn't appear to have been discussed: How is it this easy for the criminals to do? I am a little confused.

I'll simplify this for those reading that article wondering, "wait, how did that even happen?"

The criminals used fraudulent RDPs and legitimate SSN's along with other tools to fake unemployment claims and those forms were literally just "who are you, how long have you been off work, and how did you lose your job". This led to the substantial increase in fraudulent cases filed with UIA. They are basically not possible to traceback & were hard to fix because in most cases the automatic system in place for COVID funds toward relief were so quick to give funds to self-employed, they can't keep up with the case investigations across all the states.

There's a method still being used today that pretty much automates payment delivery to unemployment programs. And you can still exploit the system with basic knowledge of proxying and RDP or a VPN in the same state as the victim. You can also bet there were scammers taking advantage of the elderly and unaware. Things like call centers weren't uncommon during the beginning of the pandemic. They'd call and pretend to be from the unemployment office and pretend to help someone setup relief funds (usually awarded by mail and by direct deposit) but they'd gain access to screens and change the bank details to the scam account. It's pretty basic and very shitty and immoral.

The interesting thing is, I haven't heard the same about the UK. 80% of most of nations wages were paid for almost a year (over a year for some people), but you don't hear about this level of advantage-taking. I suspect much of that is because it was all done via the workplace. A company is going to know how many people it hires, and who those people are. Much easier to track than a government tracking 300+ million people.

(12-29-2021, 08:09 AM)Jiggly Wrote:

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The interesting thing is, I haven't heard the same about the UK. 80% of most of nations wages were paid for almost a year (over a year for some people), but you don't hear about this level of advantage-taking. I suspect much of that is because it was all done via the workplace. A company is going to know how many people it hires, and who those people are. Much easier to track than a government tracking 300+ million people.

...for which, the states weren't prepared with their dwindling amount of representatives to answer questions and figure out cases one at a time. That was ridiculously small. A lot of people couldn't even get their unemployment let alone the CARE deposits they were guaranteed. It was a shitshow.

(12-29-2021, 12:51 PM)vittring Wrote:

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(12-29-2021, 08:09 AM)Jiggly Wrote:

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The interesting thing is, I haven't heard the same about the UK. 80% of most of nations wages were paid for almost a year (over a year for some people), but you don't hear about this level of advantage-taking. I suspect much of that is because it was all done via the workplace. A company is going to know how many people it hires, and who those people are. Much easier to track than a government tracking 300+ million people.

...for which, the states weren't prepared with their dwindling amount of representatives to answer questions and figure out cases one at a time. That was ridiculously small. A lot of people couldn't even get their unemployment let alone the CARE deposits they were guaranteed. It was a shitshow.

I was reading the news and talking to other US citizens, and was really surprised at how much of a bad time the US was having. I know the size of the US presents unique challenges in a global crisis, but it seemed to suggest there were no pre-planned protocols or systems in place for an event like this. Perhaps lessons will be learned and plans will be put in, ready for enactment should another pandemic or global disaster occur.

I hope they catch every single business and person who scammed the country out of this money.