Washington's unemployment insurance lost over $100 million to a Nigerian scam

[mountaineer]

Washington's unemployment insurance lost over $100 million to a Nigerian scam
Ari Hoffman
 Seattle, WA
23rd May 2020

On Thursday, Suzi LeVine, commissioner of the state Employment Security Department (ESD), acknowledged the loss of "hundreds of millions of dollars" to an international fraud scheme that crippled the state’s unemployment insurance system. Levine did not specify an exact figure of the losses.

In April, Governor Jay Inslee and LeVine, a 2018 Inslee appointee, touted that they were relaxing the vetting of unemployment claims so as to get money to recipients as quickly as possible. ESD officials acknowledged that, because of the elimination of the "waiting week" between the time a claim is filed and the time the benefit is paid, the agency wasn't always able to get verification from employers about a claim before payment was made.

ESD officials claim that fraudsters targeted Washington because it was among the first states to begin paying out new benefits available under the federal stimulus bill.   ...

According to the Seattle Times: "…among the criminal groups implicated in the fraud is a Nigerian organization known as Scattered Canary, according to a report released this week by Agari, a California-based cybersecurity firm that has tracked the African organization's activities. The group has been running scams for more than a decade, working to steal Social Security payments, student aid and disaster relief funds, among other targets, the report said."

This has let to an explosion on social media of pundits mocking government officials for falling for the well known email scam of inheriting money from a Nigerian prince. ... More at the PostMillennial
 
 

[mountaineer]

From the Seattle Times:

Washington state officials have acknowledged the loss of “hundreds of millions of dollars” to an international fraud scheme that hammered the state’s unemployment insurance system and could mean even longer delays for thousands of jobless workers still waiting for legitimate benefits.

Suzi LeVine, commissioner of the state Employment Security Department (ESD), disclosed the staggering losses during a news conference Thursday afternoon. LeVine declined to specify how much money was stolen during the scam, which is believed to be orchestrated from Nigeria. But she conceded that the amount was “orders of magnitude above” the $1.6 million that the ESD reported losing to fraudsters in April.  ...

Last week, the U.S. Secret Service issued an alert warning that Washington was the “primary state targeted” by a “well-organized Nigerian fraud ring exploiting the COVID-19 crisis to commit large-scale fraud against state unemployment insurance programs.” The alert, which said there was “also evidence of attacks in North Carolina, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Oklahoma, Wyoming and Florida,” noted “potential losses in the hundreds of millions of dollars.” ...

[Cyber Liberty]

RU shitting me? 

[Free Vulcan]

RU shitting me? 

Remember, these are the smartest people on the planet.

They move galaxies with the flick of their eyelash.

Know all, see all, perceive all in 6 dimensions.

Their very utterances breathe life into the universe.

Personally, I doubt they care they lost $100M. They'll keep the spigots flowing till it's all gone.

[Cyber Liberty]

Remember, these are the smartest people on the planet.

They move galaxies with the flick of their eyelash.

Know all, see all, perceive all in 6 dimensions.

Their very utterances breathe life into the universe.

Personally, I doubt they care they lost $100M. They'll keep the spigots flowing till it's all gone.

They most likely "lost" it into their own pockets.  Far more likely than some difficult-to-prove scam hoovering up the cash.