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Half of pandemic unemployment money may have been stolen: report

Mount Equity Group Tokyo Japan > News > Business > Half of pandemic unemployment money may have been stolen: report

Fraudsters may have plundered as much as half of the unemployment benefits that the US pumped out in a hurry during the pandemic.

Blake Hall, CEO of ID.me, a fraud prevention service, told Axios that the US has lost more than $400 billion to crooked claims.

The US may have been robbed of as much as half of all money given out through unemployment benefits during the pandemic, Hall told the outlet.

Haywood Talcove, the CEO of LexisNexis Risk Solutions, estimated that most of the stolen money, at least 70 percent, probably ended up outside the US, according to Axios.

Much of the pilfered funds likely went to criminal syndicates in China, Nigeria, Russia and elsewhere, he said, according to the outlet.

“These groups are definitely backed by the state,” Talcove told Axios.

A lot of the money was also likely stolen by US street gangs, who have been taking a greater share of the stolen funds in recent months, Axios reported.

The US may have been robbed of as much as half of all money given out through unemployment benefits during the pandemic, according to one executive.Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Criminals were likely able