Updated on February 1, 2021 at 1:29 pm
Data breaches, hacking and identity theft have come full circle during the coronavirus pandemic as unemployment reached unprecedented rates, creating a perfect storm for unemployment fraud in California.
The agency that pays out unemployment insurance to millions in the nation’s most populous state said losses due to fraud during the pandemic might climb as high as a staggering $10 billion.
How did we get here?
The NBC4 I-Team has heard from frustrated viewers since March who say the Employment Development Department has left them hanging. They report confusing applications, jammed phone lines and payments that never arrived because scammers ended up getting the money.