The Maryland Department of Labor announced today that they have detected over 508,000 fraudulent new unemployment insurance claims since the beginning of May, according to a release from the Department of Labor.
Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, over 1.3 million claims flagged and investigated in Maryland have been confirmed as fraudulent, as the Department of Labor continues to investigate potentially fraudulent in-state and out-of-state claims, the release said.
“With fraudulent activity rampant in unemployment insurance programs across the country, Maryland has consistently adapted and added new security measures to prevent, detect, and report fraud,” Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said.
On June 1, Hogan announced that the state would end enhanced pandemic federal unemployment benefits, starting early July.
“As the economy recovers and states across the country continue to opt out of the federal benefits programs, bad actors are becoming more brazen and aggressive in their attempts to exploit unemployment insurance programs than ever before,” Maryland Labor Secretary Tiffany Robinson added. “I strongly encourage all Marylanders to remain especially vigilant in the coming weeks to protect themselves against scams and identity theft.”