Maryland Flags Over 500K Unemployment Claims In 6 Weeks
BALTIMORE (AP) — Maryland officials have detected more than a half million potentially fraudulent new unemployment insurance claims in the last six weeks and they're warning Marylanders to watch out for scams.
The Department of Labor announced Monday that it has detected more than 508,000 potentially fraudulent new claims since the beginning of May. The state's investigations have confirmed that 1.3 million flagged claims were fraudulent since the beginning of the pandemic, officials said in a news release.
A record number of unemployment insurance claims have been filed during the pandemic and states have faced fraudsters using illegally obtained data to file fraudulent claims, officials said. Maryland has added new security measures to prevent, detect and report fraud, Gov. Larry Hogan said.
Labor Secretary Tiffany Robinson urged Maryland residents to remain vigilant in coming weeks to protect themselves against scams and identity theft.
"As the economy recovers and states across the country continue to opt out of the federal benefits programs, bad actors are becoming more brazen and aggressive in their attempts to exploit unemployment insurance programs than ever before," Robinson said.
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