For the corrupt, COVID-19 has been a boon. According to a report by ProPublica, a record number of fraudsters have cashed in by making fake unemployment claims during pandemic lockdowns. Scouring hundreds of Social Security records, ProPublica found that some people filed claims and obtained payments in multiple states, with one creative crook filing in 40 different states. Of those, 29 states paid, amounting to some $222,532 in payments to the same shameless person. The investigation found the bulk of the scamming was highly organized, with groups communicating via services like Telegram from inside the U.S. and from abroad, especially from China and West Africa. In the more organized scams, bots were used to file claims in bulk. The scams tended to focus on states with outdated unemployment platforms, such as Vermont, where 90 percent of all claims are now thought to be fraudulent. The U.S. Department of Labor told ProPublica that at least $87 billion will have been paid out to fraudulent claimants by the time the aid programs expire in September 2021.
