URGENT Unemployment Extension $300 wk PUA FPUC Unemployment Benefit SSI Stimulus Check Update

Here’s your unemployment update for Sunday, January 17th, 2021

The head of a security firm working for the state of California is warning that payments of fraudulent claims could more than double the $4 billion previously estimated.

Blake Hall, founder, and chief executive of the company ID.me., stated, “at least 10% of unemployment claims may have been fraudulent before controls were installed in October.”

A 10% fraud rate could total $9.8 billion of the benefits paid from March through September.

Hall also stated, “Much of the fraud in California and other states is coming from organized criminal gangs operating in some 20 foreign countries, including Russia, China, Nigeria, Ghana, Turkey, and Bulgaria.”

Hall’s firm was hired by the EDD to begin checking unemployment claims in October, and since then 30% of the claims it screened turned out to be fraudulent.

It’s just been really interesting following along with this case but beneficial for states to learn how to best prevent frauds in the future.