Investigations pointed out that fraudulent accounts at Green Dot were created using stolen identities and by relying on “willing and unwilling money mules,” Dotson said.
Over the past two years, the Secret Service said it has seized over $1.4 billion in fraudulently obtained funds and assisted in returning some $2.3 billion to state unemployment insurance programs. Nearly 4,000 pandemic-related fraud investigations and inquiries have been initiated by the Secret Service. More than 150 field offices and 40 cyber task forces are involved.
“This is not going to be a quick fix. As we talked about today, 15,325 accounts at one financial institution —this is one case, so you can just think of the potential number of suspects and how many investigations that could come out of those. And with all of our federal, state and local partners, working this and having the same mission. It’s going to be a long process,” Dotson said at a news conference announcing the returned funds.
