By Canadian Press

California: Criminal rings loot billions in jobless funds

Jan 25, 2021 | 5:45 PM

LOS ANGELES — California officials say hackers, identity thieves and overseas criminal rings stole an estimated $11.4 billion in unemployment benefits last year.

But the extent of the fraud might grow far larger: billions more in jobless payments are under investigation.

California Labor Secretary Julie Su told reporters in a conference call Monday that of the $114 billion the state has paid in unemployment claims during that time, about 10% has been confirmed as fraudulent.

Nearly $20 billion more is considered suspicious, and a large part could be confirmed as fraud.

Su says the state did not have sufficient security measures in place and criminals took advantage of the gaps.

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