COLOMBIA, SC (WCSC / AP) – South Carolina officials say more than 2,800 claims for unemployment insurance are being investigated for fraud.
In February, authorities referred 2,855 complaints to law enforcement for possible fraud lawsuit for financial gain during the pandemic.
“Federal programs designed to help people during the pandemic, unfortunately, are also very susceptible to criminals eager to take advantage of these funds and circumvent the law for their own financial gain,” said Dan Ellzey, executive director of the South Carolina Department. Employment and Labor Force.
South Carolina is not alone in the problem, which is national. The fraud has fed on double vulnerabilities: a flood of unemployment claims since the beginning of the pandemic that has overwhelmed state unemployment agencies and outdated benefit systems that are easy prey for cunning and persistent criminals.
In South Carolina, Ellzey’s agency added security measures to help combat fraudulent claims.
Ellzey said the agency also added employees and software “to stop and detect fraud in the unemployment insurance program”.
“We work with the Integrity Data Hub and use all the services they offer,” he said. “We have implemented identity verification systems and cross-checked the claimant’s data in all the ways available to us.”
He said the agency has 68 people on the fraud team investigating allegations of fraud that come to us through hints and clues, cross-correspondence.
Ellzey said that anyone who knows someone who is fraudulently receiving unemployment insurance can report the information to the Department of Employment and Workforce by filling out the fraud form on the IW Fraud page atw.sc.gov.
“We anticipate that the cases will move forward and prosecution against some of these bad actors,” said Ellzey. “Investigations take time, so it is difficult to say when this is going to happen. If and when charges are made, we will work to communicate that information. “
If someone is found guilty of unemployment insurance fraud, they will have to reimburse the benefits and face a possible prison sentence.
A look at the latest unemployment statistics
The state Department of Employment and Labor Force says just over 4,000 filed their first jobless claim last week.
SCDEW said that for the week ending on Saturday, it received a total of 4,089 initial complaints, compared to 3,705 in the week ending on February 20, the lowest total reported in 2021.
This brings the total since March 15 of last year, which brought the first action to 854,215.
Last week, Greenville County had the most complaints at 346 and Richland County had the second highest at 320. Greenwood, Spartanburg and Horry Counties completed the top five counties.
Charleston County had the sixth highest total with 186, with Berkeley County losing eighth with 153.
Dorchester County had 104 claims, placing it in a tie with the 10th largest number of claims with Aiken County.
In the week ending on Saturday, SCDEW paid $ 72.9 million in state and federal benefits.
Copyright 2021 WCSC. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved.