FAIRFIELD, Calif. (KGO) -- As many as one out of three
unemployment claims filed in California may be fraudulent -- That's the estimate from a security company hired by EDD to assist in stopping such claims.
EDD can't confirm the 30 percent fraud rate, but all that fraud has not only led to your tax dollars being stolen, but it's also caused many legitimate claims to be delayed or even denied. The goal is to stop these claims so help can get to those who truly need it.
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Jon Coss serves as Vice President of Risk Fraud and Compliance at Thomson Reuters.
The EDD confirms it hired the firm recently to help it verify the validity and identity of all claimants.
"There was a hole in the system. Fraudsters exploited it. They communicated through the dark web and then, just you know, they ran through the hole in the dam," said Coss.
Coss says there's the mom-and-pop fraud such as what was found in the Los Angeles County city of Torrance. Just weeks ago authorities there confiscated guns along with over 150,000 dollars in cash and 130 EDD benefit cards in the arrests of 27 people.
"They send them to mail boxes or PO boxes or to try to intercept it before it gets to the intended correct person," said Captain Mark Athan of the Torrance Police Department.
But Coss says there's also the more sophisticated crime rings lurking on the internet, with tentacles around the world.
"We've seen fraud rings from the UK, from Nigeria, from Russia and countries and also domestically move in," said Coss.
