ESD fraud scheme costs state and federal governments 'hundreds of millions of dollars'
Washington state and the federal government have lost hundreds of millions of dollars in a sweeping fraud scheme, which used stolen personal information to file "tens of thousands" of fraudulent unemployment insurance claims, Employment Security Department Commissioner Suzi LeVine said Thursday.
The scheme is under investigation by several federal law enforcement agencies and officials are working with financial institutions, LeVine said. The stolen personal information used was leaked in prior credit database security breaches.
"We now have sophisticated criminals attacking us. How dare they?" LeVine said, adding the fraud is hampering state efforts to issue unemployment insurance money.
"We're still getting data on how much has gone out and how much we can recover," she said, declining to disclose specific amounts.
https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2020/05/21/esd-fraud-has-cost-washington-millions-of-dollars.html?ana=e_sea_bn_breakingnews_breakingnews&j=90509983&t=Breaking%20News&mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiWm1JNVltSTJNMlU1TnpjeiIsInQiOiJFT0JTYk5mdmFmUlJ4NU1ncm81aVBVeVFrN3FheFpVZE1uWDJqa29WYnpvQ1hWZnhHXC96YjVGT2dIWDhlU2NmVlR6M25WZDlQMUx5MldwV29ic3o4aDZTWDkrSHYzRStUZUNlM3BqRUxzeFVDdGR0SUx3RCs0QTBlN2U3YkVGK3AifQ%3D%3D
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