A wave of attempted fraud is hitting state unemployment benefits programs after they struggled to process record-high claims from layoffs during the economic turbulence triggered by the coronavirus pandemic, the Wall Street Journal reported. States across the country — including California, Louisiana, Illinois, Maryland and others — have collectively received millions of unemployment insurance requests that officials believe to be tied to fraud, with losses likely in the billions of dollars. More than $500 billion in regular and pandemic-related unemployment aid has been distributed so far in the pandemic, according to U.S. Treasury Department data. And more is coming, including a new round of enhanced benefits worth $300 a week included in a pandemic stimulus package passed by Congress. The nation’s unemployment insurance systems are run through a patchwork of state-run programs where fraud has “dramatically increased during the pandemic,” a U.S. Labor Department spokeswoman said. The department, which administers federal components of aid programs in addition to compiling data on state benefits, said thieves have targeted temporary pandemic-related programs extending unemployment aid to millions of workers. To better understand the scope of fraud, it is working with states to track denials where identities couldn’t be verified, the agency spokeswoman said.
