Secret Service recovers $286 million of stolen COVID relief from scammers

The U.S. Secret Service has returned $286 million in stolen COVID-19 relief funds to the Small Business Administration, the agency said Friday.

Driving the news: The funds, originally a form of aid to businesses struggling during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, were obtained by scammers using fake identities and dummy accounts, the agency said.

Details: The conspirators used fake IDs to apply for the COVID-19 relief funds and created more than 15,000 accounts using Green Dot Bank "to conceal and move their criminal proceeds" with debit cards, the...