Investigators are still trying to figure out how much was stolen from government programs during the pandemic, but the big-time fraudsters themselves have already moved on, finding new targets.
The same identity theft schemes that bilked the unemployment insurance system out of perhaps $250 billion are already being used on states’ disability payment programs.
California earlier this year revealed it had frozen more than 300,000 claims because of fraud concerns, saying “states have not experienced such scams until now.”
The food stamp program has also seen a serious spike in identity fraud, and analysts say other programs are vulnerable too, such as rental assistance, state tax refunds and even Medicaid, the federal-state health program that pays to deliver medical coverage to the poor.