Pandemic Unemployment Assistance

[Jeffrey]

I believe I have found the next big scam, PUA fraud. Down here in Puerto Rico the news is reporting that up to 100,000 people fraudulently applied for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, including school children. While the stimulus relief check was for a paltry $1,200, PUA checks range for $6 to $10 thousand.

I don't think thousands of people independently decided to commit unemployment insurance fraud, there might have been organization going on in the style of 1099 OID fraud.

[The Observer]

Most likely so. Many promoters/scammers love targeting organizations that have a local sizeable membership, typically community churches. The scammer approaches the leadership and explains that they have vital information that should be shared with the membership that will result in them improving their economic situation and that they can assist the members in applying/filing to receive the monetary benefits. Most of these organizations are local, independent and don't have a sophisticated leadership that would double-check the claims being made; after all, they just want to help their members and and attract new members by being able to say they are pro-active in helping the community.

[Jeffrey]

Turns out Forbes is stealing my content:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackkelly/ ... 76b9985fdb

The state of California has seen the largest surge of these questionable requests for PUA. “We do suspect that a big part of the unusual recent rise in PUA claims is linked to fraud,” said Loree Levy, a spokesperson for the California Employment Development Department (EDD). She said the state was investigating “unscrupulous attacks” exploiting identity theft and vulnerabilities in the system.

[Jeffrey]

Confession via rap song: