Fraudsters likely stole $45.6 billion from U.S. COVID unemployment insurance program

Fraudsters likely stole $45.6 billion from the United States' unemployment insurance program during the COVID-19 pandemic by applying tactics like using Social Security numbers of deceased individuals, a federal watchdog said on Thursday.

About a year ago, nearly $16 billion in potential fraud had been identified. The report issued Thursday by the inspector general for the U.S. Labor Department identified "an increase of $29.6 billion in potentially fraudulent payments."

The scammers had allegedly filed billions of dollars in unemployment claims in many states simultaneously while some of them got benefits...