How Missed `Red Flags` Helped Nigerian Fraud Ring Bilk Washington`s Unemployment System Amid Coronavirus Chaos
(World News USA)

Earlier this spring, as Washington began to pay out enhanced unemployment benefits to tens of thousands of laid-off and furloughed workers, a criminal organization halfway around the world spied an enormous opportunity. A Nigerian fraud ring, dubbed `Scattered Canary` by security researchers, would soon begin siphoning off the benefits, notably the extra $600 a week Congress had added to unemployment checks. Hiding behind a tsunami of legitimate claims, and using personal information likely stolen in past consumer data breaches, the ring and other criminals filed thousands of bogus applications with the state`s Employment Security Department (ESD). By the time the fraud was recognized,...