Using stolen identities, fraudsters filed 47,500 fake unemployment claims in Maryland
Source: Washington Post
Maryland uncovered 47,500 fraudulent unemployment claims that were part of an attempt to collect $501 million of benefits, Gov. Larry Hogan said Wednesday, part of a nationwide scam seeking billions in federal cash.
Hogan (R) said the “massive and sophisticated criminal enterprise” was detected over the July 4 weekend. Maryland’s discovery, he said, led federal authorities to related scams in “at least” 12 other states.
The governor said none of the fraudulent claims in Maryland received payments, but the benefits of a small number of legitimate claimants in need were frozen during the investigation.
Hogan said those people’s benefits will be reinstated, but he could not estimate how many Marylanders were affected.
Hogan told reporters at a news conference that the onslaught of fake claims appeared to use identities constructed from a huge cache of information taken in national data breaches in recent years. As examples, he cited breaches at the Experian credit rating agency and the federal Office of Personnel Management. Personal data in Maryland’s unemployment system was not breached as part of the scam.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/maryland-unemployment-scam/2020/07/15/8e7a72ea-c6b4-11ea-a99f-3bbdffb1af38_story.html
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