‘The US government has just suffered the biggest heist in American history’. This is according to Haywood Talcove who is the head of LexisNexis Risk Solutions, a firm that sells fraud-prevention technology.
The message went on to say that American taxpayers might have been swindled to the tune of $400bn during Covid-19. Alcove says that the federal government knew fraud on this scale might happen.
America’s old and underfunded unemployment-benefit systems exposed Covid-relief funds to criminal activity. Many fraudsters simply entered stolen social-security numbers with made-up or borrowed employer names, and then received their money in the post.
Talcove says that the US government could learn lessons from the private sector, parts of which have had considerable success in reducing their own exposure to fraud risk. Fortunately, there are signs that the White House and other government agencies are taking note.
[Image: Illustration by iStock; Security Management]