Hackers linked to Chinese government stole millions in Covid benefits, Secret Service says

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: NBC News

EXCLUSIVE

CORONAVIRUS

Hackers linked to Chinese government stole millions in Covid benefits, Secret Service says

The theft of state unemployment funds is the first pandemic fraud tied to foreign, state-sponsored cybercriminals that the U.S. government has acknowledged publicly.

Dec. 5, 2022, 6:30 AM EST
By Sarah Fitzpatrick and Kit Ramgopal

Hackers linked to the Chinese government stole at least $20 million in U.S. Covid relief benefits, including Small Business Administration loans and unemployment insurance funds in over a dozen states, according to the Secret Service.

The theft of taxpayer funds by the Chengdu-based hacking group known as APT41 is the first instance of pandemic fraud tied to foreign, state-sponsored cybercriminals that the U.S. government has acknowledged publicly, but may just be the tip of the iceberg, say U.S. law enforcement officials and cybersecurity experts.

The officials and experts, most speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject matter, say other federal investigations of pandemic fraud also seem to point back to foreign state-affiliated hackers.

"It would be crazy to think this group didn't target all 50 states," said Roy Dotson, national pandemic fraud recovery coordinator for the Secret Service, who also acts as a liaison to other federal agencies probing pandemic fraud.

The Secret Service declined to confirm the scope of other investigations, other than to say there are more than 1,000 ongoing investigations involving transnational and domestic criminal actors defrauding public benefits programs, and APT41 is "a notable player."

{snip}

Sarah Fitzpatrick
Sarah Fitzpatrick is a supervising investigative producer for NBC News. She previously worked for CBS News and "60 Minutes."
https://twitter.com/S_Fitzpatrick
[e-mail]

Kit Ramgopal
Kit Ramgopal is a reporter with the NBC News Investigative Unit.
https://twitter.com/kitramgopal
[e-mail]

Kevin Collier and Abigail Williams contributed.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/chinese-hackers-covid-fraud-millions-rcna59636

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Hat tip, Joe.My.God.

Chinese Govt Hackers Stole Millions In COVID Benefits
December 5, 2022

https://www.joemygod.com/2022/12/chinese-govt-hackers-stole-millions-in-covid-benefits/

[LiberalFighter]

1. Maybe they need to provide funds via the may instead of electronically?

[LiberalFighter]

2. Maybe they need to regulate the banks better?

So any applications have to be verified as a U.S. citizen. Any foreigners would have restricted accounts that are easily identified as such?

[BumRushDaShow]

4. The problem was probably because they hacked into existing or newly-developed state tracking systems

One of issues that happened after Congress appropriated money for the various pandemic-related funding measures, was that many states had no (data) system to track the incoming funds and outlays or they had a system but it needed some type of modification to expand the scope (along with a capacity increase due to what would be new account access).

And with probably few doing in-house programming anymore, that meant either mods to existing contracts for existing systems or actually going out with RFIs and RFPs to have some vendor offer to sell a turnkey product to do this or build something new.

So that whole process in either situation, left the states vulnerable to all kinds of malfeasance as they were modifying or developing, testing, and updating their data systems.

[NullTuples]

8. Bingo - banks already have fraud / ID theft protection systems in place.

The way you described what likely happened feels so dead-on, given my experience. By the time money transfers got to the banks they likely already had all the correct / consistent account holder data so there was nothing to flag. Or, the banks just didn't care since it wasn't their funds & contracts said anything from the state agencies was to be trusted as fully verified.

[twodogsbarking]

3. The money was handed out without proper scrutiny.

Be sure to pay your taxes.

[Farmer-Rick]

5. Not to worry the Supremes will ensure every last living student pays

Every last penny of compounding interest on every single college loan. Why bother with cyber security when you have indentured servants paying their entire lives. There is just so much money to be stolen through our state and federal governments. It's a free for all..... except the average American or students isn't in on the theft.

And why is the Secret Service involved in this? I thought their job was just to protect RepubliCON presidents? They are pretty incompetent, so no wonder they didn't catch it before millions were stolen.

[IronLionZion]

6. State sponsored eh?

Why is China stealing American tax dollars? Aren't getting enough through our tremendous trade imbalance? We buy so much Chinese made stuff!

[Stuart G]

7. K & R