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In our January Fraud Alert, we provided a targeted selection of social security numbers (SSNs) to the Social Security Administration (SSA) for verification, and they confirmed 20,404 belonged to deceased people, but dates of death were not included. To conduct further analysis, we collaborated with the Department of Treasury’s Do Not Pay (DNP) system to match these 20,404 SSNs against various death data sources to determine the date of death for each SSN-owner.

Recent headlines state that $191 billion in pandemic unemployment insurance was lost to fraud. Not exactly. In this Department of Labor Office of Inspector General's Congressional Testimony, around $76 billion of that is classified as fraud. The rest of those funds are referred to as improper payments.

This update expands on our January 2023 Fraud Alert, which identified 69,000 questionable Social Security Numbers (SSNs) used to obtain $5.4 billion in potentially fraudulent pandemic small business loans and grants.

The CARES Act created a tax credit to keep employees on payroll during the pandemic. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently warned employers to look out for scammers using the credit to promise tax savings that are too good to be true.

Our Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) dashboard shows that 10.5 million loans out of 11.5 million have been fully or partially forgiven. The average PPP loan was $42,000, so getting it forgiven (meaning you don’t have to pay it back) could be a big financial benefit.

We talk a lot about the big pandemic relief programs, like the $800 billion Paycheck Protection Program. But what about the smaller programs that received funds to help fight the effects of the pandemic?

Identity fraud has been rampant during the Pandemic. Our Identity Fraud Reduction and Redress Working Group provides insights agencies can use to keep you, your identity, and the benefits you deserve safe.

Loans are forgivable (they don’t need to be repaid) if a borrower meets certain requirements, such as using at least 60% of the loan for payroll costs. Given the average PPP loan amount is $59,000, forgiveness can be financially significant to a borrower.

Inglewood, California, hosts the big game on Sunday. Businesses, schools, and other recipients in the city got at least $450 million in pandemic relief. Here’s a quick read on where some of it went.

Here’s a look at some programs designed to help individuals and businesses recover financially from the pandemic. Some ended as required by law, and others ran out of money and are no longer accepting applications.