bkibler@altoonamirror.com
The Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General so far has arrested 29 fraudsters in six “fraud rings” who stole a total of $2.5 million in federal unemployment compensation.
And there are several other investigations ongoing, according to Chief Deputy AG Brian Zarallo, speaking Tuesday in a virtual news conference hosted by the Department of Labor & Industry.
“Fraudsters have been stepping up their efforts to gather Pennsylvanians’ personal information, including usernames, passwords, unemployment compensation personal identification numbers and Social Security numbers,” stated a joint agency news release that accompanied the briefing on Pandemic Unemployment Assistance cheating. “The goal of these scammers is to create fraudulent unemployment program claims or log into existing claims and redirect unemployment benefits payments.”