How fraudsters and cyber criminals stole billions in unemployment aid from federal program after officials warned it was at high risk of exploitation
The Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program was created under the CARES Act last spring as the pandemic left millions of Americans out of work
About $630million in aid has been doled out under the program aimed at helping workers who are not typically eligible for unemployment insurance
A new report from NBC News broke down how billions of dollars PUA aid ended up in the wrong hands as fraudsters exploited overwhelmed state agencies
Experts described a veritable tsunami of fraudulent claims flooding agencies