Record relief money and the fight against fraud

In some of the first COVID-19 articles Fraud Magazine published nearly a year ago, we warned how the pandemic was creating the perfect storm for fraudulent activity to thrive. Sadly, those predictions have proven true as record amounts of COVID-relief money flood the economy.

To date, the U.S. Congress has approved over $5 trillion in aid packages to help the unemployed and businesses survive the economic impact of the pandemic. That’s the largest federal spending program in U.S. history and, as such, it’s become a veritable playground for fraudsters to ply their trade. It’s also the subject of our cover story for this issue.