The platform that monitors state unemployment insurance divisions to detect fraud isn’t currently required to report suspected fraud data with the Labor Department’s Employment and Training Administration or the department’s Inspector General, according to a July 1 memo from the Office of the Inspector General.
This limits the IG’s ability to oversee benefits programs and spot large-scale fraud, the memo states.
State workforce agencies have been riddled with fraudulent claims over the past year as the pandemic triggered economic upheaval and widespread job losses. States paid over $5.4 billion to potentially fraudulent claims in a span of eight months in 2020.
